NORTHERN BRAZIL - Brazil - page 269

plantation founded in the
1920s to produce rubber for
the Ford Motor Company. In
the 1930s, he also established
Belterra , 12 miles (20 km)
south. Both ventures failed,
and Ford had to sell them to
the Brazilian government in
1945. These towns are
accessible by boat from
Alter do Chão.

A surfer catching the “Pororoca” tidal wave

E Museu de Arte
Sacra de Santarém
Rua Siqueira Campos 439, Centro.
Tel [phone]. # 8am-5pm
Mon-Fri.
E Museu de Santarém
Rua do Imperador, Praça de
Santarém. # 8am-5pm Mon-Fri.
& donation expected.

POROROCA WAVE
A rage with surfers, the Pororoca is a legendary wave, over
16 ft (5 m) tall, that regularly rolls up the Amazon river.
The name Pororoca comes from a local Tupi Indian phrase
which means “great destructive noise.” Predicted to happen
twice daily during full moons between January and April
every year, the wave comes in from the Atlantic causing
some devastation along the river banks. Following a low
tide in the rainy season, the force of the mighty river
against the turning tide creates the large and powerful
wave that rolls, literally unstoppable, up the Amazon. The
surfing record so far is 27 minutes in time and 7 miles
(12 km) in distance, while the tidal waves are known to
travel over 12 miles (20 km) per hour at times.

Óbidos 6
Pará. * 47,000. g from Santarém.
n Rua Rui Barbosa, Centro, (093)
3547 3244.

Monte Alegre 7
Pará. * 23,500. g 8 Rua do
Jaquara 320, [phone].

The real gateway to the
deeper Amazon, Óbidos
marks the narrowest section
of the Amazon river valley. It
was created 40 million years
ago, when a massive inland
lake burst through to the
Atlantic at this point, where
the Guyanan Shield meets
the Brazilian Shield.
The pretty waterfront has
some beautifully tiled buildings
and the 17th-century Forte
Pauxias. There is also a free
museum featuring, among
other exhibits, luxury items
from the rubber-boom days.
The museum opens on request.

the rubber industry. It is
best known for the rock
paintings of Serra Paytuna
and Serra Ererê , located
19 miles (30 km) out of town.
Estimated to be 10,000 years
old, they feature abstract
patterns, mostly geometric in
form, and some stylized
representations of human and
animal figures. It is obligatory
to hire a guide and a vehicle
to visit them. Monte Alegre
is also renowned for scenic
waterfalls and its wealth
of birdlife, for which a
local guide and a canoe
will be required.

Located impressively on top
of a small hill beside the
Amazon river, the town of
Monte Alegre was one of the
first places on the river to be
colonized by Europeans.
A band of English and Irish
sailors were the earliest to
settle here in the 1570s, soon
to be expelled by the
Portuguese. Over the last 200
years, Monte Alegre has
benefitted from ranching and

Boats moored along the waterfront in Óbidos, with rows of houses in the background