March 14: Santarém, Brazil

Santarém is a city in the state of Pará in Brazil. The Tapajós joins the Amazon River there, and it is a popular location for tourism. It is the second most important city in the state and the financial and economic center of the western part of the state. It is the head of the Santarém Metropolitan Area, which is made by Santarém, Belterra and Mojuí dos Campos. It was once home to the Tapajós Indians, a tribe of Native Americans after which the river was named, and the leaders of a large, agricultural chiefdom that flourished before the arrival of Europeans. The Brazilian city is the home to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santarém. It is located some 500 miles from both the largest cities in the Amazon, Manaus, and the state capital Belém.

Santarém has an estimated population of 299,419 people (2012 Census), being the third most populous city of the state.

The city was founded in 1661 as New Santarém (after the city in Portugal). It is one of the oldest cities in the Brazilian Amazon.

Because of the crystalline waters of the Tapajós River, Santarém has more than 62 miles of natural beaches, like the village of Alter do Chão, known as the "Caribbean in Brazil" and chosen by The Guardian as one of the most beautiful Brazilian beaches and the most beautiful fresh water beach. Alter do Chão is also home to Sairé, one of the most important folklore festivals of the region which is held there every year in September.

Many seek to create a new Brazilian state by dividing the enormous state of Pará into western and eastern regions. The new state (the western part) would be called Tapajós, with Santarém serving as the capital.

[source: Wikipedia]

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We arrived in Santarem soon after sunrise.  It was a bit of a shock to come on this urban area after so many miles of jungle with only the occasional house on the shore.

It was quickly apparent that the river, or more precisely the two rivers – Amazon and Tapajos – that converge at Santarem, make the city the equivalent of the intersection of two interstate highways.  The difference is that here the highways are made of water.  Later in the day we learned that there are police and ambulance boats, floating gas stations and even school “bus” boats.

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TOUR:  Maica Lake & Piranha Fishing

Description

Board a regional boat for a cruise to "the meeting of the waters," where the Amazon and Tapajós Rivers come together. From there, continue to Maica Lake—a natural tributary outlet of the Amazon that more closely resembles a stream in a floodplain. As the boat meanders through the floodplain, the beautiful landscape of this area showcases the Amazon Basin. You will have the opportunity to see the local inhabitants, as well as many species of birds and possibly even a freshwater dolphin. Before returning to Santarém you’ll stop to fish for the famous piranha—an amazing fish whose bite is infinitely worse than its bark. Its nasty reputation is duly earned. This is an interesting foray into the habitat of the meat-eating fish that is the stuff of legends. Those who prefer not to fish can just relax on board and listen to the birdcalls.  

[source:  MAASDAM cruise website]

Experience

We boarded our boat had headed out to the intersection of the Tapajos and Amazon rivers.  It was heavily overcast, so we could not see the demarcation.  We were told that the silt-bearing Amazon and relatively sediment-free Tapajos flow side-by-side between the same two shores before the much larger Amazon finally mixes with the Tapajos.  (The following two pictures of this phenomenon were taken later in the day; one from the top deck of MAASDAM and the other from an observation deck in Santarem.)

We cruised downriver past Santarem.  We saw a water buffalo, a sloth and an iguana.  A passing fisherman showed us a large catfish he had caught.  

Our boat had limited success piranha fishing, but here is one that someone caught.  Don't let the size fool you.  This fish has plenty of sharp teeth.  

Our guide told us that generally smaller piranha are more aggressive than larger ones.  With the water reasonably high in the river at this time of year, there are plenty of places for marine life to spread out and in doing so find abundant food.  When the dry season comes and the water level drops significantly, marine life is often trapped in small bodies of water, dramatically increasing population density and the corresponding competition for food.  This is when the concentration of hungry piranha is greatest.

The rivers in the Amazon River Basin rise 10-20 feet or more during the rainy season, so fishermen and other people who dwell along the shore build their homes on stilts. Should the water get abnormally high covering the floor boards, planks on blocks form paths within the home, thereby avoiding snakes and other creatures that may have swum into the house.

Traveling close to shore on our return trip to MAASDAM we passed boats and barges of all sizes.  Among these were a number of ferry boats, some considerably smaller than the ones in the picture below.  Our guide explained that ferry trips vary from hours to days.  In fact, it is how people measure distance.  “I live 5 hours from Santarem.”  “I live 6 days from Santarem.”

People try to get to the ferry 6 or more hours ahead of departure so that they can get the best location to sling their hammock!  The following picture shows hammocks already slung on the second and third decks with assorted cargo packed onto the main deck.    

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We had lunch aboard MAASDAM, then hired a taxi for a 90 minute driving tour of Santarem.  I spoke more Brazilian Portuguese than the driver spoke English, but we were able to communicate sufficiently well for it to be an enjoyable tour.  We went to the cathedral, the cultural museum, found a store in which to buy pencils to give out at tomorrow’s destination and did some general sightseeing.  

As the sun set MAASDAM was underway again, moving from the Tapajos back into the Amazon to continue our trip upriver.