Marabá and Carajás in the Amazon, Brazil
Marabá and around
Carajás
Near Marabá are beaches on the Tocantins and Itacaiúnas rivers, which are best visited from June to October. There is a bridge across the Tocantins at Marabá. The town was moved as a result of the Tucuruí dam, but it still suffers from flooding. There are essentially three parts of the town:
Marabá Velha
(also called Marabá Pioneira),
Marabá Nova
and
Cidade Nova
. The distance between Marabá Nova and Velha is about 2.5 km. A good travel agent is
IBR Travel
on the main street of Marabá Velha.
Banco do Brasil
will not cash traveller's cheques; the parallel market operates in larger stores, such as
Supermercado Bato Logo
.
The
Serra Pelada
gold mines, made famous by Sebastião Salgado, whose images made them look like the circles of Hell, are now worked by heavy machinery. This huge excavation was the scene of much human misery and also some fabulous fortunes. To get there, take a bus to Km 6 and change for the Serra Pelada bus, US$6, three hours, last bus back 1400. About 11 km before the town is a police post where searches are carried out for weapons and alcohol (forbidden). There is a second search point at the airport, 2 km from the mine.
The main attraction here is an impressive iron ore mine, operated by the
Companhia Vale Rio Doce
(
CVRD
)
. The mine is a giant red hole in a green jungle and the ore is almost pure iron oxide and therefore extremely profitable. It is ground, washed and shipped to São Luís by trains up to 2 km long, without further treatment or chemical processing. Apart from iron ore, other metals such as manganese are also mined by the CVRD in the area. As a result of the mining, a city has built up around Carajás, but most of it is within CVRD bounds. To get into Carajás (the Núcleo and to visit the mine) and to pass the checkpoint 35 km from the project, you must have a permit, available from CVRD. You need to apply in advance and have
a good reason for visiting. There is accommodation in
Parauapebas
, built as a temporary settlement for the Carajás construction workers, and now a town in its own right.
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This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF
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