This photograph shows the view of Itatiaia National Park that we had from the back balcony at the Hotel do Ype's restaurant late in the afternoon of October 18, 2011. Itatiaia was established in 1937 and is the oldest national park in Brazil. It is located on the border between the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. The park is surrounded by the Mantiqueira Mountain Environmental Protection Area which provides an ecological buffer zone. Temperatures were in the 70's on this partly cloudy day.