National parks are the best idea we ever had," declared American writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner. And like many great inventions, …

Butterfly Valley's beach is best accessed by water.

Kaputaş beach: Like someone cut a triangle out of the cliffs.

Jardim de Maytrea is a magical spot within Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in central Brazil.

The streets of Salvador, Brazil, are lined with colorful colonial architecture.

The Dois Irmãos rock formation seen here from the Baía dos Porcos beach in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago in Brazil.

The Dois Irmãos rock formation presides over one of Brazil's most spectacular, hard-to-reach, beaches.

Salvador, in Bahia, eastern Brazil, sits on a small peninsula.