SAILING THROUGH A WONDROUS CANYON

The State of Sergipe is the smallest state of the Brazilian Federation, located on the northeastern Atlantic coast of the country. It holds a precious gem 213km inland from its capital Aracaju - the Xingo Canyon. 

The Xingo Canyon - one of the largest and most beautiful in the world - is a deep valley 65 km long by 170m deep and its width ranges from 50 to 300 meters. 



The 60-million-year rocky cliffs  spring from the crystal emerald waters of the lake formed by the construction of the Xingo dam in the  Sao Francisco river.

Local attractions include rides by boats, catamaran or schooner into the canyon, the lookout at Piranhas town, a visit to the Xingo museum and to the hydroelectric power plant. Also, climbing, rappeling, cable crossing and trekking are available.

Source:  BLOG DE VIAGEM

FERIAS BRASIL

Tour Company

A COLONIAL GEM BY THE MOUTH OF THE MIGHTY SAO FRANCISCO RIVER

Penedo is a municipality in the state of Alagoas in Brazil.

 Founded in 1614, Penedo lies 173 km from the state capital, Maceió. Penedo has many important examples of Portuguese and Dutch colonial architectures, as well as beautiful landscapes. Among its historically significant buildings are its well preserved churches, which were built through the 18th century. Some of these include:

• Convento de São Francisco e Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos
  (Convent of Saint Francis and Church of Our Lady of the Angels)
• Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Corrente
  (Church of Our Lady of the Chains - it was named after the "chains" of slavery. The owners, a family of abolitionists, would hide running slaves in a secret compartment until they could escape. This church is lavishly decorated with rare polychrome tiles and gold leaf.)
• Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo.
  (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Black People's Rosary)

The Casa do Penedo, established in 1992, has as its objective the preservation of the city's artistic and cultural patrimony. In the Casa do Penedo one can find a rich quantity of five centuries of creativity by residents of the São Francisco River Valley.

If you can, stay more than one day to take advantage of the river tours; the boat will take you all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Wear comfortable walking shoes; Penedo was named after the rock it was built on and it's very hilly. The river is very wide near its mouth, but before it gets here it has formed one of the longest canyons in the world. Affectionately called "Velho Chico" (Old Chico), the river is 2,700 kilometers long, flowing through five states: Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe, and Alagoas, the sertão of so many books, stories, legends, and songs... In Bahia it has a flood plain like the Nile; planting manioc crops and pottery-making (with the clay obtained by digging holes for the plants) are all done according to the cycles of flood and receding waters.

The river is navigable for a 1,700-kilometer stretch and you can actually do this on a "hotel boat."  The "Velho Chico" is also famous for the "carrancas" or figureheads on its boats. The real ones are becoming more and more difficult to find and were the subject of an exhibit in Rio in 2002; you can pick up a reproduction in Penedo to help ward off evil spirits around your home...

Sources: Maria-Brazil

A RELAXING RIDE ON BRAZIL´S LAST PADDLE STEAMER

Yes, the Benjamim Guimarães  was built at Pittsburgh in the United States by James Rees and Company in 1913, one of a number of similar steamboats built for South American service. It originally navigated the rivers of the Amazon basin. In the 1920s the Benjamim Guimarães moved to the port of Pirapora on the Sao Francisco River.

Today, the Benjamim Guimarães is the only working steam paddle boat in all of Brazil. It is a tourist attraction and makes routine public trips on the São Francisco River from Pirapora downstream to the beginning of the Das Velhas River.

Forget the conventional cruises, both luxurious and extravagant. Simplicity is the word when boarding the Benjamim Guimarães boat. As a reward, the world´s last paddle steamer offers history, imagination and discoveries along a steam powered journey of six days by the Paradiso Turismo travel agency for about R$3.000/person in a double cabin.
There are, however, shorter four-hour trips leaving at 9 a.m. on Sundays and holidays. The fare costs R$40/person and tickets may be purchased when boarding, in Pirapora City (some 350 km from Belo Horizonte), at the Municipal Tourism office, or by telephone (for those who want to book in advance (38)  3749-6155)

http://g1.globo.com/minas-gerais/noticia/2011/12/pirapora-oferece-passeio-no-unico-barco-vapor-em-atividade.html

http://zerohora.clicrbs.com.br/rs/cultura-e-lazer/viagem/noticia/2012/05/benjamim-o-unico-grande-barco-movido-a-lenha-no-mundo-3747017.html

http://www.asminasgerais.com.br/?item=ALBUM&codAlbum=1101

http://www.almanaquebrasil.com.br/destino-cultura/9503-benjamim-guimaraes.html

http://www.feriasbrasil.com.br/mg/pirapora/

Where to stay in Pirapora

WATER FOR THE DRAUGHT IN THE NORTHEASTERN REGION

The Transfer of the São Francisco River is a large-scale interbasin transfer to the dry sertão, an area fabled for its harsh, dry climate and the toughness of the people who have adapted to it,  in the four northeastern states of Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba and Pernambuco in Brazil. The project, which was given the green light to go ahead by Brazil's government in 2005, was initially estimated to cost US$2 billion, having reached US$6billion by now and growing, and is expected to improve the lives of 12m people. The project actually consists of two transfers: The East axis would transfer water to the Paraíba do Norte River, while the North axis would transfer water to the Jaguaribe and Piranhas rivers. The project includes 700 km of canals and tunnels, as well as several dams. It is expected to displace almost a million people and construction is expected to take 20 years to complete.

HAVE YOU EVER COME ACROSS ANY OF THESE?:

 

A carranca (Portuguese, literally "scowl"; pronounced cah-han-ka) is a type of figurehead attached to river craft which is attributed with power to protect the boatmen from the river's evil spirits. They were once commonly found on the lower Rio São Francisco in the river's Northeast region of Brazil. The carranca is most commonly a figure of a human or an animal.

Rio São Francisco (São Francisco River)

Today most authentic carrancas are only found in museums. Modern, more stylized versions are sometimes seen as decorations in restaurants or homes and commonly seen in tourist shops of the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe and Alagoas where the historic use was found on the lower Rio São Francisco. These range from key chain figures up to very large ones a meter or more in height and made from large tree trunks. Many, if not most of those are in the carranca-vampiro style rather than the classic boat figurehead styles of the past. The difference may be seen by comparing the photos of classic styles compared to the tourist versions pictured here.

Classic versions were painted, frequently chalk white with black hair, gaping red mouths and white fangs. The most common tourist versions follow similar schemes. A more modern, decorative unpainted version is often in natural wood and even polished.
While most of the modern tourist versions are produced quickly in quantity using one of several patterns a few are made by more artistic wood workers and show unique design or interpretations of "functional" carrancas from history. A few of these are "museum quality" art.

http://obviousmag.org/sphere/2013/02/carranca.html

http://triocurima.blogspot.com/2009/05/carrancas-do-rio-sao-francisco-as.html 

http://planetaterra2010.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/rio-sao-francisco-ii/