Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING AND DRINKING
Aravinda Bar and Restaurant
Rua do Rosário 25
T
62 3331 2409,
W
restaurantearavinda.com.br.
Try
the
moqueca de piexe
(fish in a spicy coconut-milk sauce;
R$45), or
peixa na telha
(fish baked in an earthenware
dish; R$45) at this communally run spot.
Mon-Thurs
noon-1am, Fri-Sun noon-2am.
★
Seo Rosa
Rua do Rosário 17
T
62 3331 2046.
In the
most bustling part of town come evening time, with
tables spread out in the street, this popular
cachaçaria
has hundreds of different brands of
cachaça
on offer,
some to be sipped straight, others to make
caipirinhas
,
and for those who don't like
cachaça
there's also a
big selection of beers and other drinks on the menu.
Daily 4-11pm.
Tempero do Rosário
Praça de Matriz 27
T
62 3331
2706.
In the main square, just across the street from the
church, this popular lunchtime buffet restaurant offers a
big choice of salads, meats and pasta dishes (mostly
lasagnes) for just R$19.90 per person.
Mon-Fri
11am-4pm, Sat & Sun 11am-5pm.
Trilha Zen
Rua Barbosa 1
T
62 3331 3281.
A good bet
for excellent crêpes, salads, home-made burgers (from
R$9.80) or filet mignon (RS28), along with milkshakes and
açai
.
Mon-Fri 5-11pm, Sat & Sun noon-midnight.
As Flor
Av Sizenando Jaime 16
T
62 3331 1276.
Just
R$20 here buys you a whole spread of salads, meats, rice,
beans and fried manioc that you'll never get through (but if
you do, they'll bring you more), and they throw in coffee
and afters too. A real bargain.
Mon-Fri 11am-4pm, Sat
11am-5.30pm.
Santuario Vagafogo
Rua do Carmo, Km 6
T
62 3335
8515.
At weekends and on holidays, the small restaurant at
the reserve entrance serves quite superb, very reasonably
priced brunches (R$38), using home-grown ingredients:
the jams and pickles using
cerrado
fruits are deliciously
unusual.
Sat, Sun & public holidays 11am-2pm.
6
Rio Araguaia
he huge
Rio Araguaia
, one of the Amazon's main southern tributaries, is what attracts
most Brazilians to Goiás. Even though most of the river now falls within the state of
Tocantins, the Goiás section has hundreds of fine
sandy beaches
suitable for camping,
and some well-established resorts, very popular with the residents of Goiânia and other
towns in Goiás. Rich in fish, the Araguaia is particularly busy during the dry season
from May to September when the water level drops, and serious anglers come from
São Paulo and Goiânia to compete.
Aruanã
The gateway to the river is
ARUANÃ
, a small town served by only a few hotels, just over
380km northwest of Goiânia. You can arrange boat trips to go fishing or rent your own
boat in Aruanã. The busiest month is July, when it can be di
cult to get a room.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
ARUANÃ
Buses from Aruanã serve Goiás Velho (2 daily; 3hr) and Goiânia (2 daily; 6hr).
ACCOMMODATION
Hotel Araguaia
Praça Couto Magalhães 53
T
62 3376
1251.
A very green facade greets you at this small hotel,
simple enough but the rooms all have TV, a/c and a
fridge, a
nd
there's even a pool. Discounts are usually available.
R$120
Pousada Acauá
Rua José Eufrasio de Lima 14
T
62
3376 1294,
W
pousadaacaua.com.br.
The best place in
Aruanã to stay, and as comfortable as hotels come in this
town, with a po
ol, bar a
nd reasonable restaurant. It offers
fishing trips too.
R$120
Sesi Aruanã
Av Altamiro Caio Pacheco
T
62 3376 1221,
W
www.sesiaruana.com.br.
Large but good-value
family-oriented riverside hotel with a big pool (with a
slide) to splash about in, plus lots of
activitie
s, including
bicycles and even banana boats to rent.
R$190
Goiás Velho
Renowned for its religious architecture and historic feel, the historic town of
GOIÁS
VELHO
- originally known as Vila Boa, and now often just called Goiás - is the state's
main settlement west of Goiânia. Strung along and up a steep valley cut by the Rio
Vermelho, it is one of the most beautiful colonial towns in Brazil. The calm elegance
of its cobbled streets and squares, and its lack of commercialism, largely thanks to a
remote location well to the north of the country's other eighteenth-century mining
