Diamond town
Prospectors' history.
Túllio F — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Andaraí - Chapada Diamantina oficial — CC0 · Patricialaraia — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Patricialaraia — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Patricialaraia — CC BY-SA 4.0
Andaraí is a town in the Chapada Diamantina region of Bahia, about 414 kilometres from Salvador at 440 metres, with some 13,000 people; it neighbours Lençóis and Mucugê and is one of the region's historic diamond towns. Its Tupi name means «river of bats». Its first inhabitants were the Kariri, who left rock paintings in the municipality; in colonial times they were joined by escaped slaves who founded quilombo settlements. Diamonds were found here in 1845 or 1846, drawing prospectors from Minas Gerais and older nearby towns, and the town grew around the richest of its diggings. It is the birthplace of the writer Herberto Sales and the setting of many of his novels about prospectors' lives. From here visitors reach the stone village of Igatu, the Marimbus wetlands and many waterfalls and streams in the area.
Prospectors' history.
A nearby stone village.
Wetlands.
Andaraí, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia state
About an hour by car.