Excursions from Palmas in Brazil

There are numerous waterfalls in the nearby

, most of them reached via light trails through primary rainforest rich with birdlife. These include the

near the town of the same name,

and

. The first trail to the falls is at Km 18 on the Estrada do Rio Negro. At Km 36 there are trails along the river to the

waterfall and eventually to the 60-m-high

. Most of the falls have deep pools good for swimming. About 8 km away at Canelas is the

, a beach on the River Tocantins, with floating bars, sports courts, shows, and a campsite. It is particularly busy at weekends.

Jalapão is one of the highlights of a visit to the Brazilian interior: table-top mountains tower over seemingly endless plains covered in

and

forest, fast-flowing blackwater rivers lead to plunging waterfalls, sweeping sand dunes, bubbling clear-water springs and sleepy

villages. The air so clear you can see for over 100 km and, other than the Serra dos Confusões in Piauí, there is probably nowhere in Brazil where

and

is more pristine. It is still possible to see the world's rarest large parrot, spix's macaw, in the stands of

palms and one of the world's rarest water birds, the Brazilian merganser duck, on the smaller rivers. There's plenty of other wildlife too, best seen at dawn and in silence (avoid trips with Brazilian groups if possible). Maned wolf, giant anteater and white-tailed deer are numerous and there is a healthy population of all the larger cat species.

Jalapão is a six-hour drive from Palmas on the border of Tocantins, Piauí, Maranhão and Bahia. At present only

, www.korubo.com.br, offers trips here, staying at their very comfortable safari camp next to one of the larger rivers . It's possible to visit on a self-drive trip, though only with a 4WD; prepare as if for the Australian outback, with plenty of spare fuel, two ropes and at least 20 litres of water. There is simple accommodation in the scattered small towns.

Bananal is the world's largest river island and is located on the northeastern border of Mato Grosso. The island is formed by a division in the south of the Rio Araguaia and is approximately 320 km long. The entire island was originally a national park (called Parque Nacional Araguaia), which was then cut in half and later further reduced to its current size of 562,312 ha. But there are still plenty of wild areas that are rich in fauna, several permanent lakes, marshland areas and seasonally flooded habitats similar to those in the Pantanal. The vegetation is a transition zone between the

(woody savannah),

,

, Amazon

forest and gallery forest.