For fifty years nature waited until the good will and hands of man made its part. In a narrow valley between mountain ranges Gargalheiras appeared, the most beautiful water reservoir in the interior of Rio Grande do Norte and one of the main tourist points for those procuring the roteiros of the Seridó

The old strait, now transformed into Gargalheiras, comes back to wait for the good will and the hand of the man, to offer a good structure of leisure, adventure and diversion for those who visit the region. The latent potential is arising and one day is going to blow up.

The great dam is located three kilometers from Acari, one of the cities most representative of the Portuguese settling in Brazil, with a rich architecture that the explosion of the farming portrayed and the influence of the Church Catholic. Its waters extend more than seven kilometers, arriving close to Currais Novos, one of the polar cities in the regions of the Seridó.

Everybody only knows it by the name of Gargalheiras, but officially it is called Açude (Dam) Marechal Dutra, damming the Acauã River, that is part of the basin of the Piranhas/Assu river. The structure left by DNOCS, in the area of the wall of the dam, is being used to advantage for tourism development. But everything is still in artisan form, still without the concern of offering a good attendance to the tourist.

In spite of everything, it is worth - and very much so - a trip to Gargalheiras. Today, three inns are the options of those want to be close to the dam. The oldest, and highest and between the mountain ranges, offers a vision of them in their magnitude, and of where you can perceive the waters transforming the old barren landscape of caatinga of the Seridó.

Below, at the edge of the barrage, there is two more newer; the Bistrô, whose biggest attraction is gastronomical, the idea of Frenchman Cristian Fereol and Angelina … Brazilian. Ana, by chance is natural of Acari. Crossing the Gargalheiras, in the other shore, it is the inn Pé de Serra, that obeys the natural and ecological style.

The dam, constructed in concrete between the mountain ranges of Abreu, of Carnaubinha, Olho d'água and Gargalheiras, has a height of 25 meters and 250 meters long, the hydraulic basin occupies an area of 780 hectares and the maximum capacity of water storage close to 40 million cubical meters. The water is used to supply the cities of Acari and Currais Novos.

There is nothing more charming of than seeing the Gargalheiras 'sangrando' (bleeding). The first time was 20 of March of 1960. The last one was in January 2004. Currently it lacks little (less than a meter) for the great event.

During the construction of the dam, the Federal Government applied the money of the time 73 million 182 thousand and 640 cruzeiros and 20 cents (C$ 73.182.540,20), which would represent today between 10 and 12 million dollars or 25 to 28 million Reais. But the investment that is lacking to transform Gargalheiras into a tourist product would be very small.

Right now it only lacking to place in functioning the tourist terminal and the field is open to private initiative to implant complexes of aquatic leisure, hotel fazendas, and ecological and adventure tourism. Who cares to risk? Gargalheiras is an