Zilda complex
Falls and a slide.
Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Guilherme Mölter — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ofini — CC BY-SA 4.0
Carrancas is a small country town of about four thousand people in southern Minas Gerais, some 300 kilometres from Belo Horizonte, and has become one of the state's leading ecotourism destinations thanks to its many waterfalls: about seventy are mapped within the municipality. Its name, «scowling faces», goes back to colonial prospecting: miners dug into a local mountain until, from afar, the cuts looked like distorted human faces. The town has moved from traditional farming to ecotourism, and in 2008 it was voted the «fourth wonder of Minas Gerais» in a poll by Encontro magazine. Its best-known site is the Zilda complex at the source of the Capivari River in the Serra das Carrancas, with waterfalls, a natural rock slide and a cave, alongside many pools, caves and ridges. Most falls are on private land with entry fees and are reached by dirt roads, so a high-clearance car or a local guide makes the visit easier.
Falls and a slide.
Across the municipality.
Ridges and caves.
Carrancas, southern Minas Gerais state
Most roads to the falls are dirt; a high-clearance car is better.