Santarem is one of the oldest cities in the Brazilian Amazon, it was founded in 1661, actually named, New Santarem, after the historical city in Portugal. Santarem is an important regional market centre in the Lower Amazonian as it is located right in between Manaus and Belem. A major hub of activity for moving products and people. Santarem is a laid back city of about 300,000 inhabitants, the area was once home to the Tapajos Indians, an influential agricultural fiefdom that flourished before the arrival of Europeans. The city witnessed many boom and bust economic cycles revolving around timber, rubber, coffee and gold mining. Today, the boom is in soybeans. Santarem remains a pleasant city with a nice wide waterfront promenade, interesting museums, brightly coloured buildings and churches and shops selling all many local handicrafts. Santarem, is also where the murky, brownish-yellow (or latte coloured) water of the Amazon meet the aquamarine waters of the Tapajos River. For many miles beyond the rivers, the different coloured waters do not mix and there is a very visible dividing line between the two.
With our local HAL map in hand and our downloaded City Maps to Go App GPS map at the ready we headed into this laid back, friendly town stopping at all the highlight points, Mercadan Ano 2000 market, with fresh fish and produce, check (bonus, you can purchase your fish there and have it barbecued right outside); Fishermans Square, where the fresh haul in brought in daily, check (bonus, there were some children luring the Pink Dolphins in to give us a bit of a show - ah, yes, Pink Dolphins); Joao Fona Museum, giving you the history of this area dating back to 6,000 years, check (Bonus one of the workers spoke french, so Michel was able to interpret as we wondered around the museum); and the Cathedral of Our Lady Conceicao, beautiful, blue coloured church dating back to 1761, check (Bonus, it is the only church, they tell us in the world, that Jesus on the cross is looking up rather than down). So we had a great day with temperatures in the 30’s and no rain. We covered about 12 kilometres in all. The promenade was amazing, part of it under renovation but once past this area it was wide and very nice to stroll on. There were many hub points for the many boats loading and unloading for the boats going both ways up or down the river. We were able to tour one of the transport boats, which was pretty cool. How it works, you buy your passage, then get you location on boat, identified by the hooks, where you put up your hammock (don’t have one, many available in the market just outside). Now you are set for your journey, for a little more money you could actually but a small, well very small, stateroom. Our day ended with a beer or two on a floating barge, locals only - was a bit tricky to get on board but lots of fun.
A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day: “ The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” - Sir Richard Francis Burton
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