If you wish to add a little adventure to your trip, there are are several options - bike-cross, rafting, rappel, abseiling, off-road, canoeing, canyoning, free-fall. Some perhaps will prefer to discover the tremendous diversity of eco-systems in our national reserves, observe the huge variety of animal and plant life, be seduced by the calls and multi-coloured plumage of exotic birds, watch the wonderful grey whales and their calves in the south and Right whales along the north-eastern coast of Bahia, swim with the dolphins in the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, disappear into the halls and galleries of the many underground caverns or simply float down the countless rivers that cross the country.

Radical Eco-tourism

In Minas Gerais in the South East is the Serra do Cipó National Park which has trails that lead to pre-historic caves with rock inscriptions and carvings of fish and animals that according to archeologists were made more than 8,000 years ago, and a 15,000 year old cemetery that is one of the oldest known in the world. There are also innumerous waterfalls and kilometers of paths that are crossed by streams and rivulets and surrounded by spectacular landscapes for the more adventurous hiker. The highlights are the Cachoeira da Farofa (Farofa Waterfall) and the hikes to the Cânion das Bandeirinhas (Banderinhas Canyon) and to the Cachoeiras do Gavião and Andorinhas (Gavião and Andorinhas Waterfalls) The park also offers an ideal
environment for rappel, canyoning, climbing and kayaking.

The Immense Amazon

The north of Brazil is dominated by the Amazon and its diverse eco-systems. For example, in the Amazon National Park in the state of Pará, as well as the dense jungle (per hectare there are more than 40 species of trees and the nut of the Brazil nut tree can weigh up to 1.5 kilograms) the fauna is exuberant. There are millions of insects, yet some of the 250 species of birds are threatened with extinction, among which are the King vulture, the Harpy eagle (the largest Brazilian eagle) and the Jaburu. In the Pacaás Novos territory in Rondônia there are still completely unexplored areas .

A Prehistoric Trip

In the North-East, the Serra da Capivara National Park in the state of Piauí is a World Heritage Site. Located on the frontier of the Parnaíba river basin in the municipality of São Raimundo Nonato, it has one of the highest concentrations of archeological sites in the world. There are 535 of them, which safeguard more than 30,000 indigenous artworks and cave paintings illustrating the day-to-day life of primitive man. The park also is one of the few that protects the Brazilian caatinga (the native desert scrub). There are also deep canyons cut through rocky walls, caverns, chasms that drop sharply from high plateaus and unexpected rock formations that dominate the landscape. In this arid dry region it is not uncommon for temperatures to reach more than 40ºC.

Spectacular wild life

National Parks: science, conservation and culture

There are more than 50 national parks stretching from the north to the south, from the east to the west, of Brazil. All of them without exception are not only of ecological and scientific interest, but also of cultural interest. Together they take up a larger area than many countries in Europe, for example Austria, Belgium, Denmark or Portugal.

The impressive waterfalls