BURACO DAS ARARAS

SOUTH AMERICA’S LARGEST SINKHOLE WITH FLYING RAINBOWS

Buraco das Araras (“Macaws’ Hole”) is South America’s largest sinkhole and one of the biggest in the world, with quite a shocking history (read below). It is 500 m in circumference and 100 m deep. It was formed 300 million years ago due to the lime stone and sand stone being so fragile to easily collapse. Today, the RPPN (Private Reserve of Natural Heritage) of 29-hectare around this sinkhole counts 130 kinds of birds, of which the main attraction is the red-and-green macaw (arara). Its a stunning, colourful spectacle to see these ‘flying rainbows’ all around this immense sinkhole.

RED-AND-GREEN MACAWS

The rocky walls of the sinkhole form an ideal shelter for the ‘green-winged’ or ‘red-and-green macaws’ (which is in fact a red, green and blue macaw). From two different viewings platforms you get to see the macaws flying all over the sinkhole, into their nest and onto the trees, where you can also see them from up close. These macaws can get up to 125 cm wide and 96 cm long and they can live up to 80 years. They are truly monogamous; even if the partner dies, it’ll stay alone for the rest of its life. There are an estimated 60 couples of macaws living here at the moment. The female typically lays two or three eggs in a nest and incubates the eggs for about 28 days. The chicks fledge from the nest about 90 days after hatching

OTHER WILDLIFE

Besides birds, you might see mammals such as the armadillo, anteater, coati, fox and agouti. We got to see a giant anteater and a stylish bug with a cross on its shield. Surprisingly, there are also alligators at the bottom of the hole, where there is a lake with green water.

DISCOVERY OF THE SINKHOLE

The first official record of the sinkhole was in 1912 and back then there were red and green macaws living here. A farm worker curiously followed the macaws to find out what was going on there and so found the hole. The farmer at the time wasn’t happy with this hole, as he was afraid that cattle would fall into the hole. His solution was to leave it outside of the ranches, creating a road between properties. Because of that, people started visiting the hole, amazed by its dimensions and with the macaws flying inside.

WHAT COULD HAPPEN TO A GIANT HOLE IN SOUTH AMERICA HAPPENED

Unfortunately, some people figured that the giant sinkhole was a good place to get rid of unwanted items, including unwanted people, and started to throw their enemies inside, so that they would die and never be found, turning the Macaws’ Hole into an ‘open sky cemetery’. The most famous stories are about Silvino Jacques, who for instance let his victims run to escape the gunshots, without knowing that he/she was running towards a fatal abyss. Also, the place suffered from other vandalism as the rock walls and macaws were used as shooting targets. As a result of this and all the littering, the macaws gradually disappeared.

RESTORING THE NATURAL HISTORY

When the current owner, Mr. Modesto Sampaio, bought part of bought part of this farm in 1986, he and his family didn’t know is that the old road had been included in the deal, and the hole was right in the middle of the property that they bought. At that time, there were only black birds attracted by all the trash that people had thrown into the sinkhole. Also, there were dead cattle into the lake, as cows do not have the capacity to see depth, so they sadly fell into the hole, and shockingly, they found 24 human bodies (or, the remains). This might be the reason why there are alligators into this lake, as they might have been put there to get rid of the dead bodies (!).

Mr Modesto got the whole sinkhole and surroundings cleaned up and released two macaws from captivity at the site. Then more and more macaws naturally migrated to and nested at the sinkhole and this restored the natural history.

GREAT TOURS WITH SPECTACULAR MACAW FLIGHTS