^{Photo Credit: Jim Zuckerman}

Photographing macaws at Buraco das Araras is a total dream if you’re into wildlife or bird photography.

The place itself is wild—a massive sinkhole right in the middle of the forest in Brazil, with these sheer red cliffs that the macaws just love to hang out on.

There are usually dozens of them flying around, squawking, pairing off, or ducking into little nesting holes in the rock.

It’s one of the best places in South America to see them up close.

There are two wooden platforms set up for visitors, one’s best in the morning, the other in the late afternoon. If you time it right, you can get beautiful light streaming down into the crater, which makes the macaws’ colors pop in photos.

After you’ve got your macaw fix, look out for toucans, motmots, or even caimans chilling in the little lagoon at the bottom.

It’s a protected area, so they limit the number of people who can go in at once, which means it’s pretty peaceful—no big crowds, just you and the birds.

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