Diamond Highlands (A Chapada Diamantina).

(photo: Roy Funch)

The Chapada Diamantina (Diamond Highlands) is a wonderful place to visit. Beautiful scenery, friendly people, clean fresh water from the mountains, lots of places to swim, even more places to hike (and not much at all in the way of bugs, thorns, scratchy/itchy plants, tropical illnesses, or things that go bump in the night).

I've lived here since 1978 (came down with the Peace Corps) and do guiding, write books, work with crafts (stained glass and stone clocks), do translations (scientific, I'm a biologist), research (right now, on giant termite mound fields), and go hiking in the hills as often as possible. I helped establish the National Park, and was its very first Director (1985-90).

My hobby is what could be called modern archaeology  -  documenting the remnants of the mining era, the things made out of stone, including rustic miners' shelters ("tocas"), stone houses, dams, aqueducts, cemeteries, the mines themselves. Everything stays put and intact - just photographs, GPS localization, descriptions. Quite often one finds old Amerindian drawings (petrographs) on the rock walls. They get documented, too.

(photo: Personal Archive)

TOURS

I offer didactic tours - walking, talking, explaining what you are seeing, and answering questions about the geology and vegetation, the water, the mountains, the embedded history of diamond mining in the region – plus lots of swimming and rock-hopping.

You've probably seen photos of the area, or have had some friends who have visited – there are a lot of exciting things to see and places to visit - the Pai Inácio Mountain, the Sossego, Mosquito, and Buração Falls, the Ribeirão do Meio rock-slide, the ever-so-tall Fumaça Falls, the almost ghost town of Igatú are almost obligatory. But, I try not to get in the car too much, as there is a lot of beautiful hiking right out of town.

My specialty is really off-the-main-trail hikes to places almost no one ever visits (except the miners and hunters). The outings will be tailored, of course, to your physical conditioning, the weather, and checking in with the spirits of the mountain.

You’ll receive a complimentary copy of my book “A Visitor’s Guide to the Chapada Diamantina”

Other services:

• Transportation to the Chapada Diamantina (by car or bus)
• Local transfers
• Lodging (lots of options!)

Odds and Ends:

• Credit cards are good, but not accepted everywhere.
• You can use your credit card to get local money (Reais) from the ATM machines (but not guaranteed on long weekends in Lençóis – the machine can get drained). 
• Kind of hard to change money (though if the Brazilian economy really tanks, it may get easier).
• Hat, solar protector, sun glasses.
• Comfortable, worn-in tennis shoes/trainers/sneakers will do, boots aren’t necessary. 
• Everyone brings bug spray, but I never find much of a need for the stuff at all on day trips, or in town.

Unsolicited recommendations:

"If I was still around, I'd love to do the cave trip again."  B. Ladin

"When I get Brazil to build the wall, we'll leave a gate for the Chapada Diamantina."  D. Trump

"I loved the park! No traffic jams!"    C. Christie

"It was great to hike with Roy – he could almost keep up with my pace."   V. Putin

"No, no, no, no, never."   T. Cruz

"The National Park isn't bad, for a federally controlled area."       C. Bundy

"Wonderful! I took sooooo many selfies".   K. Kardashian

Downloads:

• "Termite mounds as dominant landforms in semiarid northeastern Brazil"  ~ here or here
• "Mapping and evaluation of the state of conservation of the vegetation in and surrounding the Chapada Diamantina National Park, NE Brazil" ~ here or here

(Click to enlarge)

Posted in: Diamond Highlands