This place is magical with all its sandstone rocks rising from the earth. It is not huge, but larger than I expected, and it takes over an hour to walk around the formation. If I understood the information well, the rocks were formed by glaciers at the time that Gondwana was still one big continent consisting of the current southern continents. The pictures speak for themselves. Guides speak Portuguese and very little english, which is the main disadvantage of this attraction, which maybe should have the same fame as the Iguazu falls. The other attraction in the same park are the 'furnas', which are large holes in the ground, created by water digging out holes underground, eventually leading to a collapse of the roofs. Although less picturesque, I think this is worth seeing and knowing about. The nature here is also not to be underestimated. I saw several predator birds, one of them a carcara, which the other tourists and the guide didn't seem to find very special. And I saw that another tourist got a picture of a big spider at the furnas. There are also hundreds if not thousands of andorinhaos at the furnas. Some practical info.: The bus to return to Curitiba arrives between 15.45 and 16.00. Be sure not to miss this one. If you arrive at the park just after 10.00, you should be fine to do both tours (to the sandstone rocks and to the furnas), and you'll have some spare time to eat a snack. To arrive at 10.00, you should take the bus from Curitiba to Ponte Grossa at 8.30. Ask the driver to stop at Vila Velha - he won't stop otherwise. Costs at the park are 28 reais in total (in the weekend at least). I believe the bus costs also about 28 reais one-way.

A place to be in contact with nature and it´s effects over time. If you´re lucky, may you see some coatis, watch your purse! =)