The pontões
Towering domes.
The Pontões Capixabas Natural Monument is a federal reserve in the municipalities of Pancas and Águia Branca in northern Espírito Santo. Over some 17,440 hectares it protects a striking landscape of huge granite domes, the «pontões», rising sheer from green plains. It was created as a national park in December 2002 and reclassified as a «natural monument» in 2008. The land lies on the edge of the Mantiqueira range and part of the Jequitinhonha–Pardo plateau, at altitudes from 120 to a thousand metres, and its streams run to the Pancas River, a tributary of the Doce. It protects remnants of dense rainforest. The area is a draw for rock climbers, paragliders and photographers, as the granite domes look otherworldly at sunrise and sunset. Go with a local guide to find the trails and lookouts, and avoid the midday heat.
Towering domes.
Over the plains.
Magical light.
Pancas and Águia Branca municipalities, northern Espírito Santo
Huge granite domes rising abruptly from the plains, the area's trademark.