Brazil - Ubajara


		National Park of Sete Cidades The Parque Nacional das Sete Cidades (established 1961) covers and area of 6221 hectares/15,366 acres in the communes of Piripiri and Pirarucura in northern Piauí. The main attractions of the park are its cave paintings and the striking natural features known as the Sete Cidades ("Seven Cities"). So far as the ordinary visitor is concerned there are only six "cities", since only archeologists and specialists are admitted to the seventh, the "forbidden city", which contains many of the cave and rock paintings, dating from at least 3000 years ago (though some experts believe that they may be between 7000 and 14,000 years old). The "Seven Cities" are isolated rocks and crags carved out over thousands of years by erosion. Some visitors, convinced that these are the remains of settlements built by Phoenicians, Vikings or even extra-terrestrial creatures, have seen them as towers, squares, streets and statues.		Ubajara Ubajara is a small mountainous range, located amidst a green landscape; it offers magnificent views of the plains below (500 m slope). It has a mild climate, rivers and waterfalls (some of them attain 60m height) run across its valleys and forests rich in vegetation. The photo galleries: Ubajara town Our hotel Traveling to Ubajara Ubajara National Park The Caves Sete Cidades Sugar Factory Viçosa do Ceará Ubajara map Ubajara National Park Ubajara National Park is set in a hillside in the Ibiapaba Mountains, 320 kilometres from Fortaleza. The Gruta de Ubajara stretches out through 9 chambers and reaches down to 1120 meters into the mountain, although not all the caves are explored or mapped. The grotto has impressive stalactite and stalagmite formations in caves, the result of nature's patient work with limestone and water over many thousands of years - each centimetre of crystallised growth takes three years to form. Access to the grotto is by a chairlift. The park has waterfalls and paths through the forest. We visited a local sugar factory, and at the evening the near by town Viçosa do Ceará, where they presented a local family run company manufacturing the liqueurs and jellies.