Chapada

Chapada dos Veadeiros, Brazil's National Park, The world's most beautiful places, travel tips.

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• published: 04 May 2016
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Chapada dos Veadeiros is a natural area in the state of Goias, Brazil. It is also the name of a National Park within that area, listed as a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO for being an outstanding preservation area of the Cerrado – one of the world's oldest and most diverse tropical ecosystems. Chapada dos Veadeiros is a big geographical area in the center of Brazil, well known for it's amazing fauna, flora and geological formations. There's a National Park, which has an area with 65,515 hectares with plenty of great landscapes, gorgeous waterfalls and lakes and is sought after by many travelers in search of true contact with nature. São Jorge is a small village right in front of the National Park's entrance. It lacks infrastrucure like asphalt roads and public ilumination, the intent is to leave the region around the park pretty much as it is, in order not to disturb it's fauna and flora. Even though it might sound uncomfortable for some, that's what makes the small village special. There you really feel you're somewhere mankind hasn't dominated yet, and there you can really experience Chapada. The Chapada region is also a magnet for mystics attracted by the alleged properties of the its crystal soil and rumored UFO appearances. Rumour has it that, according to NASA, the Chapada is Earth's brightest point as seen from space. Lying on a quartz crystal bed, it's said to reflect light like a mirror. Flora and fauna Cerrado is the predominant kind of vegetation. The trees are low and curved, and the vegetation is usually ground-high. It is similar to the Savana vegetation in Africa. Cerrado wildlife, including orchids, buritis and many threatened animal species such as the pampa deer, swamp deer, jaguars, guará wolves, rheas, crested seriemas, tapitis (small hare-like rodents), giant armadillos, great anteaters, capybaras, tapirs, red-breasted toucans, king vultures and black vultures. Climate Chapada’s climate is tropical, hot and semi-arid. The average annual temperature is around 25ºC (77ºF). The National Park can be visitied year-round. Its rainy season is from December to Februarry and the rest of the year it is mostly sunny and hot. At the height of the dry season (September), the temperature can peak at 40ºC (104ºF). In the beginning of the year the climate is very humid, and it rains pretty much everyday. It is very dangerous to be close to a waterfall during bad weather, so, avoid visiting the area during those days. After May, the rain ceases and the climate turns almost desertic. There's a six month period with almost no rain at all and it gets pretty dry and hot, as you can imagine (what makes the waterfalls even better!). In that sense, the best period for visiting is between June and July, because the probability of raining is very low, and the waterfalls still have plenty of water. After that, it is still worth seeing it, but the waterfalls won't be as good because they start running low on water (no, they never get dry). (wikitravel) http://wikitravel.org/en/Chapada_dos_Veadeiros To visit the park you do not need to hire a guide, the trails are well marked and have lifeguards on all waterfalls. LOCATION ON THE MAP Village São Jorge GO -14.176643, -47.814050 Waterfall Cariocas -14.144389, -47.821473 Canyon II -14.144332, -47.814191 Waterfall Salto I -14.163615, -47.844545 Waterfall Salto II -14.166325, -47.847159 Rapids of Black River -14.157424, -47.836153