The River Sea

 

“el rio mar”

Its been an eventful last few days to say the least, and a great feeling to finally arrive at a place I’ve been looking at on Google Earth for the past few years.
After spending a few days in Belem sorting out last minute purchases, getting to know a few of the locals and finding that my battery for the all important satellite communications is not charging or holding a charge i have now arrived in Soure.

 

Standing on the shore of Soure looking at the river you can understand why they call it the river sea, with the white sand beneath my feet, and water as far as the eye can see, i feel as if i am on a coast looking out over a vast ocean, a giant cargo ship passes in the distance and i can’t even see the Belem shoreline.
Many people from Soure come here at the weekends to enjoy the beach, I feel as though i have stepped back in time had it not been for the passing ship and Latin American music playing in the background.
The wide dry stony red clay roads of Soure are virtually empty with the occasional motobike and Bufflo cart passing, and this is rush hour! a vast difference from the overcrowded roads in Belem

 

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A fishing community near Soure Marajo Brazil preparing for Christmas celebrations.

All the people here i have so far met have been very friendly and helpful and also patient with my broken Portuguese. The owner of the little hotel informs me that the dialect changes dramatically in different parts of Para. I foresee communication problems ahead.

Also I’m just getting to grips with maintaining this website, so please excuse mistakes and slow blog posts

 

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Forget pickup trucks, Buffalo and cart is the way to get about here.

 

The river sea blog

The red dusty stony roads of Soure, Marajo

Facts & figures
The mouth of the Amazon river averages a discharge of about 209,000 cubic metres per second – approximately 6,591 cubic kilometres per annum — which is greater than the next seven largest independent rivers combined. The Amazon basin is the largest drainage basin in the world, with an area of approximately 7,050,000 square kilometres (2,720,000 sq mi), and accounts for roughly one-fifth of the world’s total river flow. The portion of the river’s drainage basin in Brazil alone is larger than any other river’s basin. The Amazon enters Brazil with only one-fifth of the flow it finally discharges into the Atlantic Ocean, yet already has a greater flow at this point than the discharge of any other river.
The river enters the Atlantic Ocean in north-eastern Brazil in a broad estuary about 240 kilometres (150 mi) wide. The mouth of the main stem is 80 kilometres (50 mi). The width of the Amazon is between 1.6 and 10 kilometres (1.0 and 6.2 mi) at low stage, but expands during the wet season to 48 kilometres (30 mi) or more. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called “The River Sea”.
Brazil-Para

Pará (Portuguese pronunciation: [paˈɾa]) is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of (clockwise from north) Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazons 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
Capital: Belém
Area: 1,253,164 km2
Important cities: Santarém, Marabá, Altamira (the largest municipality in Brazil; Altamira is bigger than several Brazilian states and bigger than many countries), Castanhal
Do not confuse the state of Pará(PA) with southern Paraná(PR).
The name Pará means “river” in an indian language. The name of the capital, Belém, is the Portuguese for Bethlehem, the city where Jesus Christ was born.

Info source Wikipedia

 


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