#1: [21-Jan-04]

#3: [24-Jul-21] (incomplete)

10-Feb-2004 -- We arrived in Cambará do Sul to also visit the canyons of the "Parque Nacional dos Aparados da Serra" and this confluence.

With an aerial photo sent by Leandro (visit # 1) we started looking for somebody to lead us to the point that is distant about 20 kilometers from downtown. At the inn we knew Evandro Schütz from ATITUDE Ecologia & Turismo (www.atitude.tur.br), we told him the task and he agreed quickly.

We spent one hour to arrive one kilometer close to the point and 50 more minutes walking to reach the right place passing by a swamp and the hillside woods. At the top there is a small plain with a beautiful sight of the highlands.

The region shelters some of the most mysterious and fascinating landscapes of the country. The vast and cold fields finish suddenly, without transition, forming cliffs of up to 1,200 meters of height, as they had been cut by a knife.

The most famous canyon was named Itaimbé by the indians (Ita=rock + aimbé=sharp, in Guarany). In the Itaimbezinho (little Itaimbé) the walls impress for the size and upright, where waterfalls, as the "Véu da Noiva" (Veil of Fiancé), of 720 meters of height, falls down disastrously from the rocky throat.

The Fortaleza is considered the greater canyon of Latin America with more than 30 km of edge, and its peak reaches 1,190 meters providing cinematographic images.

Thanks to Leandro for the photo and to Evandro and his pickup truck.