Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Steep mountain ridges in Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Brazil's oldest national park
Parque Nacional
do Itatiaia
4
Rio de Janeiro.
@
from Resende,
then taxi.
n
Centro Excursionista
Brasileiro, Av Almirante Barroso 2,
(021) 2252 9844, Rio.
www
.
ecoralph.com
8
Ralph
Salgueiro, (021) 3351 1823.
&
®
Hotel Donati, (021) 3352 1110.
www
.
hoteldonati.com
black-faced titi monkeys, a
threatened species. Birdlife,
too, is prolific in the park,
which is home to 350 species,
many of which are endan-
gered. The park plays a crucial
role in their conservation.
Dusky-legged guans wander
along the park's few paved
roads, brilliant seven-colored
and black and gold cotingas
flit about with toucans, and
the early morning air buzzes
with the sound of dozens of
different hummingbirds.
The park can be crowded
on weekends when Brazilian
families romp in the numer-
ous waterfalls and wildlife
makes itself scarce. But
during the week the various
trails are deserted and quiet.
The ranger station provides
rather poor walking maps
but the trails are fairly clear.
Hotel Donati, which is the
best hotel in the park, can
organize walking tours,
and with advance notice,
wildlife guides.
Brazil's oldest national park,
Parque Nacional do Itatiaia,
was founded in 1937. It was
established to protect the high
alpine meadows and the
gradations of thick Atlantic
rainforests that cover its steep
mountain ridges. It is the only
part of Rio de Janeiro state
ever to see snow, albeit rarely.
The scenery here is
magnificent. The highest
regions of the park are
capped with giant boulders,
eroded into strange organic
shapes by millions of years
of rain and wind. They sit on
expansive grassland coursed
by babbling brooks, which
become fast-flowing, clear-
water rivers once they
reach the warmer forested
areas below. Here they
tumble, roar, and fall over
waterfalls and rapids.
The trees around them are
busy with primates. Curious
brown capuchin monkeys
are a common sight on the
numerous trails. Scarcer
are the beautiful and shy
Trail through the verdant rainforests of Parque Nacional do Itatiaia
