Northern Brasil - Sete Cidades

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The Sete Cidades (7 Cities) National Park sits a few hours south of Parnaiba.

We lucked out with a travel agent and got a good deal on a driver for a couple of days, costing only a little more than public buses. It meant that we could go straight to the park on our first day and slept at the pousada within the park.

What makes Sete Cidades unique is the unusual rock formations in the park. Some of the rocks take on the shape of animals, faces, fingers, arches and one has a map of Brazil - seven groups of rocks spread out over the park make up the "cities". The surface of the rocks was bizarre, all cracked into octagonal shapes - maybe the surface dried very quickly. The landscape was very “outback Australian” and just as hot!

Also, there is a very important collection of ancient rock paintings at various sites in the park, dating from 4000 to 6000 years old.

We saw some wildlife too, most notably some little bats in a hole in one of the rocks. They hung upside down in their hole patiently as we photographed them.

Around the accommodation in the park were agoutis (large rodents), lost of beautiful birds and plenty of mozzies.

There was a slimy natural pool which was filled by rainwater - at Amy’s insistence we took a dip, briefly though as little fish started to nibble on us (not a good sensation I have to say).

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Photos

Map of Brazil
Can you see it in the gap?

Red Crested Cardinal
There were lots of them in the park