Caraca Sanctuary

Caraca was founded in the 1770s and became one of the most important schools in Brazil, educating a long line of politicians including two presidents before it closed as a college in 1968 after a fire. The church, rebuilt in neo-gothic in the 1870s, is unusual for Minas - pointed arches and a rose window instead of baroque - and stands at fourteen hundred metres in a reserve of Atlantic forest and campo rupestre with trails to waterfalls and peaks. Its best-known feature is nocturnal: for decades the priests have put food out on the church steps at night, and maned wolves come in to take it, close enough to watch from the terrace. It is a wild animal on its own terms, so it does not appear every night, and guests are asked to stay quiet and back.

What you actually see

• Maned wolves at the steps - wild animals fed nightly at the church terrace.
• A neo-gothic church in Minas - pointed arches instead of the regional baroque.
• A former seminary at 1,400 metres - now guest accommodation in the reserve.
• Forest and campo rupestre trails - walks to waterfalls and peaks around it.

When to go

April to September. Two days, staying overnight for the wolves.

Honest expectations

The wolves do not come every night and nothing is guaranteed. Staying overnight is effectively required and rooms are simple and booked well ahead. The last road is unpaved. Nights at altitude are cold, and the sanctuary keeps quiet hours.

Nearby

Catas Altas is below; Ouro Preto and Mariana are south.