The Middle of the World.
The Brazilian State of Amapa is known by only a few as the state where 82% of the total area is untouched vegetation, of which more than 55% is protected by various conservation trusts. It is the State that best preserves its natural ecology. Ten of these preservation trusts combine to incorporate some ten million hectares, an area the size of Portugal, and they form what is known as the Biodiversity Corridor of Amapa, a grand mosaic of diverse vegetation types. Within this corridor is found the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, with 3.8 million hectares, the largest tropical forest park in the world. In this single destination, you may experience the most incredible adventures.
Within this landscape, the traveller may find that which he is seeking; the fulfilment of the desire for adventure, within an environment of incomparable unspoiled beauty. Here, we can see nature in its purest state, ruled only by the forces the universe. Proof is not lacking of these eternal enchantments. During the Autumnal Equinox, on the 22nd and 23rd of September, two breathtaking natural phenomenon occur within the State.
The first is the “pororoca”, a tidal bore that, in its original language means “roar”. It occurs when the Atlantic tides gather stupendous force and reverse the natural flow of the Amazon waters heading to the sea. The resulting tidal wave may reach speeds of up to 25 km. per hour, and a height of 3.5m.
The second may be easily observed in the state capital, Macapa where the Parque do Meio do Mundo is found. An obelisk marks the place where the imaginary equator line divides our world in two hemispheres. By the shadow of the obelisk, one is able to observe the Equinox. This phenomenon occurs twice a year, on the22nd and 23rd September and 20th and 21st March and happens when the angle of the sun’s perpendicular rays over the Equator fall equally in the northern and southern hemispheres. At this time, the day and night are of exactly equal length. Within an area designated as the Monumento Marco Zero do Equador there is the football stadium, known as “Zerao”. The half way line of the pitch lies along the Equator, so perhaps this is the only place in the world where play passes between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Another fascinating curiosity in Macapa is what is known as the Coriolis efect. Due to the intensity of the sun’s rays at the Equator, hot air rises in the atmosphere and then divides into two currents, one drifting North, the other South. In the Northern hemisphere, the waters and winds circulate clockwise, in the Southern, anti- clockwise. Moving further north or south from the Equator, this phenomenon becomes more accentuated. Depending upon the position within the City, water may drain away in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
Leaving Macapa, almost always in bright sunshine, the state of Amapa offers three privileged destinations. The first is Laranjal do Jari, some 223 km south of Macapa, where there are twenty four waterfalls, including the semi circular Santo Antonio fall. These falls, considered to be the most beautiful in the Amazon, and second only to Iguacu falls in expanse, have drops of 30 meters, and despite the force of the water, boats may approach quite close to the cascading waters.
The second destination is a voyage through time aboard the “forest train”. Travelling from Macapa to the Serra do Navio, this 203km train journey is unforgettable. Aboard this noisy but festive train, passing by gigantic Amazon trees, you will journey back in time to an era that is no longer. The journey, in all taking five hours, includes nine stops, passes over rivers, through prairie land and dense forest. At every halt, there are new discoveries and a chance to explore. The tiny platforms are transformed into bazaars, microcosms of the Amazon, with lines of itinerant locals, ready to sell their wares; indigenous artefacts, leather sandals, local food and exotic fruits, all representing the day to day lives and history of these people. You seem to drift between fact and fiction.
The third destination is the coastal town of Calcoene, 390 km north of Macapa where fiction becomes fact, for it is here that we find one of Brazil’s most important recently excavated archaeological sites. The circle of massive granite rocks on the borders of the Igarape Rego Grande attract the attention of scientists from all parts of the world and a satisfactory explanation as to how and why they came to be there is yet to be given. The locality has recently been officially named the Parque Arqueological do Solsticio, (the Solstice Archaeological Park), the first in Brazil. By stretching one’s imagination somewhat and taking into consideration the proportions of time, history and size, these monuments can be said to share similarities with Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, England. Indeed, this probably why the site has been given the nickname “Stonehenge”…….phenomenon “from a time when nature reigned supreme, and the stars regulated the day to day myths of the indigenous people”.