Chiselled bluffs of windswept limestone rise overhead, and precipitous cliffs draped in a shroud of mossy grass serrate the horizon; flat-topped plateaus lie peppered with lichen-dotted rocks and gnarled thorn bushes sway in the highland breezes. All the while, the elusive silhouettes of Brazilian jaguars and armoured armadillos weave between the cactus groves, Snakes hiss, and tropical birds issue a cacophony of squawks and sounds into the orchid-scented air.

In a land of such majestic natural beauty, it’s hardly surprising that the Brazilian government has chosen to treasure this region’s environmental wonders over its subterranean wealth of diamonds and gold. Where mechanised mines were once planned, travellers can now hike meandering trails to eye-watering sights like the Cachoeira da Fumaca, the highest waterfall in the country that spouts plumes of mist and steam across the ridges of the Sincora Range. Others enlist a Chapada Diamantina National Park tour guide from the charming town of Lencois to help them case out the deep caverns of Lapa Doce, or the mirror-like pool of Poco Encantado, or then simply lose themselves between the soaring canyons and waterways of Cachoeira do Buracao—wildlife spotting, stargazing and entirely given over to the indelible call of the wild.