Igatu - Bahia

Igatu is a stone-built village with diamond-mining ruins in the Chapada Diamantina, a district of Andaraí, Bahia, known for trails, climbing and art galleries.

Igatu is a village of stone houses set in the Chapada Diamantina, surrounded by ruins left from the days of diamond mining. Walls of stacked rock are everywhere, in the houses still standing and in the ones that became low walls, giving the village a quiet, rough-edged look that earned it the nickname "Machu Picchu Baiana".

The village is a district of the municipality of Andaraí, in the Seabra microregion and the immediate region of Itaberaba. Andaraí is one of the six municipalities that share the Chapada Diamantina National Park, along with Ibicoara, Itaetê, Lençóis, Mucugê and Palmeiras. Being in one of those municipalities is not the same as being inside the park: for whatever lies within its boundaries, there is no entrance fee, there is no mobile phone signal, and ICMBio recommends hiring a visitor guide, since the trails are not signposted.

Visitors usually split their time between the ruins and their living history, the local art galleries and the trails around the village. The rock faces nearby also draw climbers.

In the Vivai catalogue, Igatu is linked to Cachoeira da Califórnia, Cachoeira dos Pombos e Córrego do Meio, Rampa do Caim and Mina Brejo-Verruga.

There are active experiences departing from here, and you can book through Vivai before you arrive.