Parque Nacional de Itatiaia

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smaller, daintier but thick-barked trees. Gallery forests are found mainly round waterfalls and rivers. The rivers are either tributaries of the Rio Grande (MG) or flow through the Paraíba basin (Campo Belo, Flores, Bonito, Aiuruoca, Preto, Santa Maria, Penedo, etc.). The animals include ocelots, pumas, monkeys, bush dogs, bush pigs and some other species. There are estimated to be some 600 species of birds.

In the local hotels visitors can get information about hiking trails in the National Park or hire guides for excursions - either walks in the virgin forest or climbing trips for experienced climbers.

Accommodation

Within the park there are hotels and small inns with accommodation for up to 120 people. The Abrigo Rebouças (mountain hut), reached from the Engenheiro Passos-São Lourenço road, is 17km/10.5mi (on an unsurfaced road) from the boundary between Rio de Janeiro state and Minas Gerais. At Penedo in the Serrinha de Alambari, 15km/9.3mi from the Via Dutra, is a camping site run by CCB-RJ (the Rio de Janeiro branch of the Camping Clube do Brasil), and there are other camping sites at Itatiaia, Penedo, Mauá and Resende.