Parque da Cascata
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The Parque da Cascata (meaning Waterfall Park in Portuguese) is located on the Serra Santa Helena, just 3 km from the centre of Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
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[edit] Caves and geology
The gorge of the waterfall in the Parque da Cascata is in fact the collapsed part of a Karst cave.
Although the Parque da Cascata is easy to reach by car, the actual gorge is hard to reach. The gorge starts with a waterfall and the best way to enter the gorge is following an erosion gully (because the vegetation is inhabited by dangerous snakes, spiders, scorpions etc!).
Following the brook one sees a number of horizontal stalactites and stalagmites that clearly demonstrates that part of the cave has collapsed. Further down, the brook enters another system of caves with more stalactites and stalagmites. Unfortunately, vandalists have destroyed a number of them. The place were the brook wells out of the Serra Santa Helena is a place for practices of the Macumba religion.
The limestone area north of Belo Horizonte is called the Sete Lagoas Formation. It is in this limestone that the Lagoa Santa Karst was developed. The area around Sete Lagoas has many caves, of which the Gruta Rei do Mato is the most famous one.
[edit] Other things to see in the Parque da Cascata
The Parque da Cascata has a beautiful vegetation including humid forests as well as dryland habitats. It is located on the Serra Santa Helena in Sete Lagoas which offers a nice view over the city and its lakes. Locals use the Park as a place to barbeque or to play beachvolley at the lakeside. The Serra Santa Helena is also a mecca for paragliding.
