BAHIA SPOTLIGHT: CHAPADA DIAMANTINA (DIAMOND PLATEAU)

Português: O rio da pratinha entrando na grande gruta... aguas cristalinas! Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brasil.  English: The little silver river entering the great grotto... crystalline water! Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil.

Chapada Diamantina

Chapada Diamantina is a region of Bahia state in the Northeast of Brazil.
The Chapada Diamantina has a dramatic landscape with high plains, table-top mesas, and steep cliffs or towers known as 'tepuy.' Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 1800s, the only local inhabitants of the region were indigenous Indians from the Maracas and Cariris tribes.

 Chapada is a Brazilian word that means a region of steep cliffs, usually at the edge of a plateau. Diamantina
refers to the diamonds found there in the mid-19th century.

The Diamantina Tableland Region

Chapada Diamantina.

The geographical center of Bahia is the Diamantina Tableland region. In this mountainous region with a diversified topography, 90% of the rivers of the Paraguaçu, Jacuípe and Rio das Contas basins have their source here. There are thousands of kilometers of clear waters that spring from these mountains and descend in cascades and waterfalls to plateaus and plains, forming beautiful natural pools.

INFORMATION ON CHAPADA DIAMANTINA NATIONAL PARK IN BAHIA, BRAZIL

Chapada Diamantina is a short plane ride or drive from Salvador, Bahia.  Below is a great description from a traveller to the national park.

Natural Beauty
by Andre

The National Park of the Chapada Diamantina is one of the most fascinating natural parks of Brazil. The mountain scenery contains an extraordinary variety of ecosystems, like Cerrado, Mata Atlantica, and Stone fields, Caatinga. The bromeliads and orchids find a privileged ambiance, adapting themselves to the differences in climate and altitude. The mountain tops reach a height of 5,660 feet and they offer shelter to the Jaguatiricas (local breed of feline) pumas, mocós (local rodents), deer’s, teiús (local reptile) and seriemas (local little ostrich) .



The massive quartz pieces, have undergone and resisted erosion, forming towers of minerals known as “TEPUY” by the local Indians of the Maracas and Cariris tribes, who dominated the region before the arrival of the first settlers or bandeirantes, around the year 1750. The most astonishing tepuis reach a height of 4,830 feet and they run across the municipalities of Palmeiras, Lençois e Mucugê .