Exploring An Ancient Land - Chapada Diamantina, Brasil

Welcome to the final part of my posts from Brasil!
If you haven't already seen the previous two posts from this trip you can check them out here.

For my fifth visit to Brasil (my wife's home country) Nat and I chose to visit a very unique part of the country that is greatly overlooked and unknown by most foreigners. Chapada Diamantina is a national park situated ~400kms west of Salvador, Bahia. It is known for its old mining towns, incredible panoramas, stunning waterfalls, and numerous ancient sandstone caves. To sum it up, it's the best kept secret from foreigners visiting Brasil, in my opinion.

Traveling to and staying in Chapada Diamantina is very easy, but you'll have to plan carefully as there are only 2 flights to the region each week, or otherwise be prepared to sit on a bus for 7-8 hours.
We were fairly budget minded for accommodation, as we wanted to make sure we could comfortably pay for transport around the national park and its many sites. We stayed with Tatu Do Bem in the town of Lencois, which was an exceptionally comfortable hotel, run by Shirley and Eduardo. They put on a fantastic breakfast (included) everyday, and also run really great personal tours throughout the Chapada. Eduardo knew of all the best places to check out, which often meant that secluded waterfalls and caves were left for us to experience independently of other tourists!

We only had two full days to explore Chapada, but we still managed to do a lot of exploring!
On Day 1 we visited Mucuguezinho River and Poco do Diabo (waterfall), Caverna da Fumaca (cave), Pratinha (turquoise river), Gruta Azul (river cave), finished with sunset at Morro do Pai Inacio.
On Day 2 we visited Poco Azul (river cave) and Cachoeira do Mosquito (waterfall).

Enough with the chatter. I hope you enjoy the snaps!
-Mat

The flight in

Lencois

A parading capoeira group approaches my dinner table

Mucuguezinho River

The drop behind us was ridiculous!

Poco do Diabo (Devil's Pool)

Caverna da Fumaca - Smoke Cave, so named because in winter, it is warmer inside the cave than outside, resulting in steam rising from the cave at dawn

Gruta Azul

Turquoise waters at Pratinha

Views from the top of Morro do Pai Inacio

The spectacular Poco Azul - crystal clear waters allow you to see 33 meters to the bottom

Cachoeira do Mosquito - Mosquito Waterfall, named after the little black diamonds that used to found here (not from the insect thankfully)