Jalapao State Park

Jalapao is cerrado - the Brazilian savanna - at its most photogenic: rust-orange dunes piled against the horizon by wind carrying sand off the surrounding tablelands, flat-topped mesas, and gallery forest along the watercourses. Its signature is water. Fervedouros are artesian springs where groundwater pushes up through white sand with enough force that a person floats without effort and cannot sink, the water clear and cold and about twenty-four degrees year round; Fervedouro do Ceiça and Bela Vista are the best known. There are waterfalls at Formiga and Velha, and the golden grass capim dourado, which is stitched into craftwork by the Mumbuca quilombola community and sold across the region.

What you actually see

• Orange dunes - wind-piled sand against the cerrado tablelands.
• Fervedouros - artesian springs pushing up so hard you float and cannot sink.
• Formiga and Velha falls - clear-water cascades in the gallery forest.
• Capim dourado craft - golden grass stitched by the Mumbuca community.

When to go

May to September, the dry season. Four days.

Honest expectations

Everything here is far apart on unpaved road, and 4x4 with a driver is the normal way to do it. River crossings are on small ferries. Accommodation is simple pousadas in Mateiros or camping. The fervedouros now cap visitor numbers and time slots.

Nearby

Palmas is the state capital; Chapada das Mesas is north-east across the Maranhao line.