Brazil: Pará State

Complex Ver-o-Peso focuses crafts, cuisine and other local products. Photo: gazetadopovo

Pará  is a state in northern Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of (clockwise from north) Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital and largest city is Belém, the 11th most populous city in the country.

Pará is the most populous state of the northern region with a population of over 7.5 million, being the ninth most populous state in Brazil. It is the second largest state of Brazil in area, with 1 247 689.5 km² (or 481 735.6 square miles), second only to Amazonas. Its most famous icons are the Amazon River and the Amazon Rainforest. Pará produces rubber (extracted from natural rubber tree groves), tropical hardwoods such as mahogany, and minerals such as iron ore and bauxite.

Every October, Belém receives tens of thousands of tourists for the year's most important religious celebration, the procession of the Círio de Nazaré. Another important attraction of the capital is the Marajó-style ceramics, based on pottery from the extinct Marajó indigenous culture, whose designs have gained considerable international fame.

Belem, capital of Pará. Photo: wikipedia

Before the 1600’s, the English and Dutch explorers that made their way to this part of South America by boat invaded it in search of its valuable pepper, annatto seeds and the Guaraná tree. The annatto seeds were valuable as colorants, sunscreen and insect repellent while the Guaraná tree has many herbal uses; including weight loss, increase in libido, antibacterial properties, the thinning of blood and pain relief. Then, during the earlier part of the 17th century, Portuguese colonizers arrived in the area now known as Pará and founded Presépio Fortress (the modern Castle Fortress). The city of Belém would eventually stem out of this location.

Castanheira - Para symbol tree. Photo: AdairGallo

Alter do Chão is located 45 minutes southwest of Santarém in the state of Pará, Brazil on the river Tapoajos.  The place is beautiful year round but June – December is the driest time to visit and from August when beautiful sandy beaches start to appear. Photo: hiddenpousadas

Pará’s climate is tropical; typical of its equatorial positioning. It's very humid and moist, with no dry season. This gives the tropical rainforest vegetation the ideal amount of moisture in which to thrive, creating a dense, lush landscape that is absolutely breathtaking for locals and visitors alike. The Amazon is home to an astounding variety of species; both plant and animal. This diversity and abundance gives this state a priceless quality of beauty and intrigue, attracting tourists from all over the world to explore the unique splendor.

Pará’s major exports include iron ore, aluminium and wood, amongst others.

Visitors to Pará are urged to visit some of the following popular attractions:

• Estação das Docas (Station of the Docks)

• Teatro da Paz (Peace Theatre) – dating back as far as 1869

• One of the many river tours that are conducted on a regular basis

• Mercado Ver-o-Peso – the largest free fair in South America

• The Zoological Park and Gardens

• Mangrove of Herons Garden – a contemporary-styled park in the Cidade Velha area of Belém.

Estação das Docas (Station of the Docks). Photo: turismoemfoco

Mercado Ver-o-Peso. Photo: elinaldoblog

searches: wikipedia and brazilorg

Tourist Regiões of Mato Grosso - Brazil

Mato Grosso offers an incredible variety of tourist itineraries. It is the only Brazilian state with natural regions such as the Amazon, Cerrado, Pantanal and Araguaia. In addition to natural resources, there is here also a historical and cultural heritage that provides a multitude of opportunities for tourists.

Tourist regions:

Cerrado

It encompasses 48 municipalities including the three largest cities in the state: Cuiabá, Várzea Grande and Rondonopolis. It is an arid biome and quite dry during part of the year, but extremely rich in biodiversity. There are over 100,000 species of plants, many medicinal and endemic. It is in Mato Grosso cerrado that spring underground rivers that flow forming the main river basins of the country.

Tuiuiu bird. Photo flickr by bandeirantes

Pantanal

Considered one of the most beautiful and wild biomes on the planet, the Pantanal has 200,000 km2 (two thirds in Brazil, the rest in Paraguay and Bolivia). One third of the Brazilian portion is located in Mato Grosso, where covers 10 municipalities in the southwestern state. It is considered by ornithologists the world's best place for bird watching.

Between October and March, the rainy season, the rain causes the overflow of rivers. The waters run road sections, bridges and extensive tracts of land, forming gigantic flooded.

The Pantanal has as gateway the municipalities of Cáceres, Poconé and Barão de Melgaço, where you practice activities mainly related to the observation of flora and fauna, horseback riding, boating, photo safari and ecologic trails.

North Pantanal

The Pantanal backbone is the Paraguay River, which cuts through the region from north to south. The Miranda, Aquidauana, Taquari and Cuiaba rivers flow into the Paraguay River. From October to April, the high waters reveal outsized lakes, bays, river branches and outlets.

The Transpantaneira Highway connects the town of Pocone to Jofre Port, along the Cuiabá River bank. It is a dirt road with 126 wooden bridges, and extends for 149 km. On the way, it is possible to observe wild animals, especially alligators, capybaras and birds, among other wild animals.

Transpantaneira highway. Photo tarmortw

Pantanal (wetland) Photo: wikipedia by Alicia Yo

Amazon

Ten percent of the largest forest on the planet is in Mato Grosso. Are 49 cities in the northwest of the state covering nearly half of the state's territory. In these areas there are large areas of environmental conservation and indigenous reserves. The largest are the Juruena National Park, which occupies the northern end of the state, and the indigenous Xingu Park, the largest Indian reservation in the world.

The main regional centers of Mato Grosso Amazon region are Sinop, Sorriso and Alta Floresta. Cities are young, created from the 1970s on the banks of the BR163 highway.

Araguaia

The Araguaia valley has over 2.100 km2 and is marked by the passage of giant river Araguaia. Over its territory it is a natural border between the states of Mato Grosso, Goiás and Tocantins. The tourist region of Araguaia encompasses 34 municipalities in the extensive range that occupies the entire east of Mato Grosso, finding in the south the Cerrado and Pantanal and the Amazon region in the north.

The Araguaia river is one of the most famous Brazilian rivers for its number of fish and the transparency of water. The most popular programs for tourists are the navigation and sport fishing, besides the white sand beaches.

Pontão beaches, in Xinguara, on Araguaia River. Photo: planetapara

Araguaia River. Photo agencia phocus 

Sunset in Araguaia River. Photo: aparecidaagora

Alto Araguaia. Photo aiaunemat

National Parks of Mato Grosso

The State of Mato Grosso is one that has more national parks in the Midwest of Brazil. There are three: Pantanal National Park Mato Grosso, Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, Juruena National Park. Together they make up more than 3 million hectares of protected area.

Chapada dos Guimarães National Park

Internationally famous for its mystique and mystery, the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park has protected their savanna ecosystems and forests, numerous archaeological sites and historical monuments. It is pilgrimage point for tourists who like to feel and get in touch with nature. Its beautiful waterfalls and landscapes fill the eyes of visitors. It's unique and beautiful environment made from sandstone mountains and their subsequent erosion.

Geodesic center of Latin America, the Chapada National Park is the most central point of the continent. An unforgettable experience, right in the heart of Brazil.

Chapada dos Guimarães

Chapada dos Guimarães

Pantanal National Park Mato Grosso

The Pantanal National Park is considered by UNESCO, World Natural Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. His landscapes are so beautiful and remarkable that stay forever in the memory of the visitors. Who sees a sunset in the Pantanal never forgets.

Its amazing fauna and flora is a tourist destination of ecotourism lovers. The environmental conditions favor the establishment of variety of wildlife to be observed in their natural habitat. Furthermore, the Pantanal is the place in the world with the most butterfly index.

Photo: holidayInnCuiaba

Juruena National Park

Created in celebration of the World Environment Day, June 5, and located between the northern state of Mato Grosso and south of the Amazon, the Juruena National Park has an area of 1.9 million hectares. It is the third largest park in Brazil.

The park can only be visited accompanied by expert guides, but who has the opportunity to go will come across all the exuberance of nature in its wildest form. A piece of pristine Amazon in Mato Grosso.

 Photo: Zig Koch / WWF

Photo:  Zig Koch / WWF

Islet formed by flooding of the forest by the river Juruena. The region is home to several species at risk of extinction such as the jaguar and the harpy eagle. (Photo: WWF-Brazil / Adriano Gambarini)

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