Recently, my Brazil guide Vitor Marigo, released his latest photo book on the Parque National da Tijuca. It is a stunning project – 216 pages filled with 319 of Vitor’s magnificent photos taken with land and drone cameras. This is Vitor:
Vitor dedicated over 8 years of exploring the park, going beyond the areas most frequented by visitors into remote areas in order to get an in-depth understanding of the park’s treasures. He dedicated this book to his late father Luis Claudio Marigo, a renowned nature photographer who instilled in Vitor not only the love of nature, but the desire to bring knowledge of the glories of nature to all people. A simultaneous goal is to emphasize the need for conservation efforts to ensure the health of this park for years to come.
Vitor choice to make the Parque National da Tijuca the subject of his book was an easy one – he lives in Rio de Janeiro and had spent many hours prior to beginning his book in the park enjoying its flora and fauna. With the help of his friend and former employee of the park, Peterson de Almeida, he discovered that where he had visited – the main tourist areas – was only a sliver of the park’s offerings. His photo book opens the doors to many of the areas that the average visitor would never have access to.
Before I share this Vitor’s vision, let me provide you with a brief review of history of the Parque da Tijuca previously mentioned in an earlier post.
The Parque Nacional da Tijuca,, was established in 1861 by the Emperor Pedro II to reforest the area of Rio de Janeiro which hand been devastatingly deforested due to coffee and sugar cane plantation development. This deforestation caused serious water shortages in the city. There were over 100,000 trees replanted as well as other native vegetation creating a great urban forest. The 15 square mile area was officially named a national park in 1961.
- Tijuca Forest Sector
- Serra da Carioca Sector
- Pedra Bonita/Pedra da Gavea Secot
- Pretos Forros/Covanca Sector
Vitor, having secured passes to not only visit the park after hours, allowing him the opportunity to photograph spectacular views pre and post sunrise and sunset, he also had special access to Sector D. I will share some of my favorites in subsequent posts. If after reading and viewing my reviews of Vitor’s book you are enticed to get your own copy, send me a message and I will give you info.
#