Around
700km west of Belém - but closer to 800 as the
river flows - Santarem is the first significant stop on
the journey up the Amazon, a small city of around 130,000 people,
which still makes it the fourth largest in the Brazilian Amazon.
It is a pleasant, rather sleepy place which feels more like a
large town than a city - a world away from the bustle of Belém
and Manaus. But don't be deceived by its languid atmosphere,
there are plenty of things to do here, and Santarém,
positioned right in the centre of the area often referred to
as the middle
Amazon, a region still largely (and inexplicably) unvisited
by tourists, is the perfect base for exploring some of the
most
beautiful river scenery the Amazon basin has to offer.
It is likely that this area once supported one of the highest
populations in the Americas before Europeans arrived, with
towns and villages stretching for miles along the riverbanks,
living off the rich stocks of fish in the river, and farming
corn on even richer alluvial soils, replenished annually
when the Amazon flooded. On all the distinctive flat-topped
hills
around Santarém, there is evidence of prehistoric
Indian occupation , easily identified by the terra preta
do Indio
(Indian black soil), a black compost deliberately built up
over the generations by Indian farmers. If you do any walking
up and down these hills, especially around Belterra, keep
your eyes open for ceramic shards. In recent years, thanks
to the
work of an American archeologist, Anna Roosevelt, it has
become clear that Santarém and its surrounding area
is one of the most important archeological sites in the Americas.
Hostels in Santarem |
ROOMS BRAZIL
