The turquoise pool
Bluest at midday.
Rafael Defavari — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adelano Lázaro — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Aline Fortuna — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Santa Bárbara waterfall is one of the loveliest sights of the Chapada dos Veadeiros region: water drops about 30 metres into a pool whose colour shifts from green to turquoise, at its bluest around midday, when the sun falls straight on the water. It lies on the land of the Kalunga, one of the largest quilombo communities in Brazil, villages founded by Africans who escaped slavery in the days of the gold mines. The community runs the visits: a local guide is compulsory and is paid per group of up to six, and the trail is an easy 1.5 kilometres over rocky ground, about 25 minutes. It is reached by some 30 kilometres of dirt road from the town of Cavalcante. To protect the site, no more than 300 visitors a day may enter, 50 an hour, and each group may stay at the falls for an hour at most; in July, at Carnival and at the end of the year it is best to buy tickets in advance.
Bluest at midday.
Visits run by the community.
1.5 kilometres.
Engenho II community, Kalunga territory, Cavalcante, Goiás
No. A Kalunga guide is compulsory, entry is capped at 300 visitors a day, and you get an hour at the falls.