Buraco das Araras, Private natural heritage reserve in Jardim, Brazil

Buraco das Araras is a sinkhole, not a crater, in the municipality of Jardim, Mato Grosso do Sul. It is considered the largest dolina in Latin America, about 500 metres in diameter and 127 metres deep, with vertical walls. A bright green lagoon lies at the bottom, surrounded by vegetation and inhabited by yellow-throated caimans.

This sandstone sinkhole was discovered in 1912 by a local worker who named it after the red macaws nesting in its walls. The discovery eventually led to the area being protected and formally recognized as a nature reserve.

The name Buraco das Araras, Hole of Macaws, comes from the many macaws seen flying around the sinkhole. Local legend holds that the hole was long used to dispose of cattle thieves and others local ranchers or politicians wanted eliminated. Around 70 macaws were counted at the site in 2016, after the first pair was released nearby in 1997.

Visitors walk around the sinkhole only in guided groups of no more than ten people, accompanied by a tour guide or local environmental monitor. The reserve is privately managed, so access follows the owner's rules. Bring footwear for an uneven dirt path and keep to the marked route along the rim.

The sinkhole was long used to dump stolen cars and rubbish, and its walls and macaws were shot at for target practice. After buying the land in 1986 for cattle, Modesto Sampaio began clearing the waste and replanting native forest in 1996; a first pair of macaws was released nearby a year later, and by 2016 around 70 macaws frequented the hole.