Athayde Tonhasca Júnior is back with part 2 of his 3-part travel series, “Back in the day. Way, way back” (part 1 is here). His captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Back in the day. Way, way back, Part II
Serra da Capivara National Park is crisscrossed by a 450-km network of roads and paths; you could spend months exploring it all. Some sites are accessible by wheelchair, others require commando-style slogging. Admission is free, but you must hire a licensed guide. You wouldn’t want to go scouting on your own anyhow; the area is a labyrinth of dead-end canyons, steep climbs, sharp bends and sphincter-clutching rock ledges.
The lone yellow canopy at the bottom of the gorge is Handroanthus serratifolius, which drops all its leaves during blooming. These sheltered canyons retain water, hence the leafy trees:
The location where Niède Guidon made her discoveries (see previous post). Her team dug out soil, stones, roots and everything else 5 m down from the walkway; it took them almost 10 years. The wall is covered with pre-historical paintings:
Reams of paper and gallons of ink have been spent interpreting some of the wall paintings. With no written record from these ancient peoples, explanations are no more than guesses:
Whatever is happening here, you wouldn’t want to join in:
A large animal is about to be dispatched with a strike to its head:
Two capybaras. This painting was adopted as the park’s logo (see next):
This sign advises people with heart problems, acrophobia (fear of heights) or who are out of shape not to take this trail. We found out why in no time:
Going up. If you zoom in on the circle, you will see the steps towards the top. From a distance, the terrain looks steeper and more dangerous than actually is:
At the top with Nestor, our excellent guide. He does this trail several times a week:
Going down. Slowly:
A rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris), an endemic species to eastern Brazil. These rodents are hunted for food, but are safe in the park. Apparently their predators can’t keep up because they are all over the place and not spooked by people. Rock cavies use collective latrine spots on rocks where their faecal pellets and urine accumulate and turn into resin-like concretions. Wherever you sit, you have a good chance of landing on rock cavy excreta:
The saxicolous (rock-dwelling) Tropidurus helenae, a species only described in 1990 and supposedly endemic to Serra da Capivara. This little lizard is incredibly curious, coming close to check you out. According to our guide Nestor, it is attracted to blue and green colours:
As someone unable to travel far from home, I find your posts wonderful and exciting. All your posts have been so much fun to learn from!
Nice of you, Corrie. Thank you very much.
Wonderful post as usual, Athayde!
Going up. If you zoom in on the circle, you will see the steps towards the top. From a distance, the terrain looks steeper and more dangerous than actually is.
Didn’t have a fear of heights before, but zooming in on those few little steps? Now I do. Wonderful to see the magnificent sights via those two photos!
Another great post Athayde. I didn’t realize how big the 2nd photo of the wall with paintings was until I saw the people at the bottom of the photo. Wow!
What a wall to climb. I couldn’t do it. Incredible! Thanks.
Such an interesting post! But that is always true with Mr. Tonhasca.
Awesome! That’s quite some staircase!
Love this one – inspiring!
Just incredible! Thanks.
That’s a cool-looking lizard.
I am thrilled to have learned about this place and its history, thank you so much, Athayde!
Wow. What a fascinating place. Great photos.
Love the lizard and the rock cavy.
Great pictures! Those steps put Angel’s Landing in Zion to shame!
“the area is a labyrinth of dead-end canyons, steep climbs, sharp bends and sphincter-clutching rock ledges”
I prefer to use my hands when climbing rock ledges.
Fascinating, as always – thanks!