Alcântara is located less than 20 kilometres from São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. During the colonial period it was an important commercial centre. Walking along the town you will be able to see a substantial collection of historical heritage, from the times of the French occupation, first, and the Portuguese occupation after that.

WE LIKE THE MOST: the architecture, the small-town spirit that permeates the place, the delicious doce de espécie.

WE LIKE THE LEAST: as elsewhere in Brazil, the state of abandonment and neglect of the historical and cultural heritage; the negligible tourist infrastructure.

HOW TO GET THERE: by boat, from São Luis. The crossing takes one hour and the truth needs to be told: with a rough sea, a sick bag becomes an essential item.

CAREFUL WITH: wandering around beyond the limits of the village; the boat crossing mentioned above. Unfortunately, there is no alternative means of transportation.

FAVOURITE PLACES: the ruins of the Igreja Matriz de São Matias, the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora das Mercês, the Baronesa beach.

PIECE OF ADVICE:

• Alcântara is the perfect destination for a day trip from São Luís.
• at the pier from where the boats to Alcântara leave you can find out the schedule of crossings; be careful, don’t miss the last boat back to São Luís or you’ll have to spend the night in Alcântara.
• in fact, if you want to stay in Alcântara, there are three or four pousadas.
• the Baronesa beach and nearby area are an excellent location to spot the incredibly beautiful scarlet ibis

LINKS: Cidades Históricas Brasileiras: Alcântara

WEATHER FORECAST: The weather in Alcântara for the next 10 days (data from São Luís)

GOOGLE MAPS: Alcântara

PHOTOS: São Luís and Alcântara

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Time does fly! It’s now a year since we went to Maranhão. I’d like to take the opportunity to leave here an index to the information published since then on São Luís do Maranhão and the Lençóis Maranhenses. It is June, after all, a very special month for the region, as it is now when the festas juninas and the bumba-meu-boi festival take place:

• Destination: São Luís
• Destination: Lençóis Maranhenses
• Destination: Caburé
• Bumba-meu-boi
• video: festas juninas in São Luís
• pictures of the Lençóis Maranhenses
• pictures of the ceramic tiles of São Luís
• pictures of Caburé
• pictures of bumba-meu-boi
• pictures of scarlet ibis in Alcântara
• restaurante da Luzia, Atins

This is the second video from the deviajeabrasil.com collection.

It’s longer than the previous one (5 minutes) as it portrays a Brazilian festival that is hardly known outside Brazil and even inside the Brazilian boundaries. I’m talking about the festas juninas -very popular all throughout Brazil- they way they are lived in São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. The video presents three different folk displays:

• the tambor de crioula, an Afro-Brazilian dance practiced mainly by descendents of African slaves. Three drums, each one with a specific function, dictate the rhythm.
• the quadrilha, a dance of English origin, present in the festas juninas of all Brazil.
• and the bumba-meu-boi, of which I gave quite a lot of information a couple of days ago here.

The soundtrack for each of the three blocks corresponds to the music played during the events.

You can watch the video on the YouTube screen provided below. This time I haven’t been able to make a high-resolution version available, as the file is too big and I haven’t found a provider that will host the file for free. A pity as the version hosted by YouTube leaves quite a lot to be desired in terms of quality.It is an audiovisual presentation, so make sure your computer speakers are on! Hope you enjoy it.

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I’m putting the final touches on a presentation on the festas juninas in São Luís (update: the video is already here) and found it appropriate to give some background information before I upload the presentation. The bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão is one of the most wonderful cultural manifestations of all Brazil – you can read more about it on the following Wikipedia article in Portuguese. It was recently listed as Brazilian cultural heritage. I’m more concerned here with practical information.

COULD YOU DESCRIBE IN A FEW WORDS WHAT’S THE BUMBA-MEU-BOI?: an artistic display that combines dance, music and theatre. The central character of the performance is the ox - or rather, a figure of an ox carried by a person.

IS IT THE SAME AS THE BOI-BUMBÁ?: no, it’s not. Although both share the same origin, the boi-bumbá es is typical from the states of Amazonas and Pará and differs greatly from the bumba-meu-boi.

WHAT ARE SOTAQUES?: if you want to make the most of festivals in São Luís you need to know that sotaques are different forms of performing the bumba-meu-boi. Each sotaque has its own characteristics, and is associated to different characters, rhythms, musical instruments and music. There is a sotaque de orquestra, sotaque da baixada, sotaque de zabumba, sotaque de matraca, sotaque de pindaré, and so on. On the very same night you can see performances of groups belonging to different sotaques. After two nights partying in São Luís you will be able to recognize right away the different sotaques!

WHERE?: an easy question: in São Luís, capital of the state of Maranhão. Bumba-meu-boi is a truly popular festival, and performances take place at the end of the day, in public spaces such as squares, or at an arraial, a kind of fairground where the different traditional groups perform. All performances are free, which gives an idea of how popular the festival really is.

WHEN?: though many places (including blogs and websites) will tell you that the festivities begin on 13 June, the truth is that hardly anything goes on until June 23, when the ox is baptized. The festival goes on until 30 June. It is worth staying in São Luís until the 30th (São Marçal) as all the different folk groups gather together that day.

I’ve read in quite a few places that there is now bumba-meu-boi in São Luís during July. This is only partially true. Only recently the authorities realized how unfortunate they were, as their main festivities ended up in June, just a few days before the beginning of the July holiday period in Brazil. Many tourists arrived in São Luís in July only to find out that the party had just finished. The idea was born: let’s have an “out-of-season” bumba-meu-boi for those who can’t be in São Luís in June. Performances take place during weekends at the Convento das Mercés in the historical part of the city. But make no mistake, it’s a bumba-meu-boi for tourists – I’m not implying you shouldn’t go and see it should you find yourself in São Luís in July. But if the bumba-meu-boi is the main purpose of your trip, you have to find time in the second half of June. The “out-of-season” bumba-meu-boi is no substitute.

ANY OTHER ADVICE?: as there are performances every night running simultaneously at different venues, you need to get hold of a programme of events ASAP. In the programme you will find listings with information on who is appearing where and when. There are usually six performances per venue per night. There are a handful of important venues in São Luís and you can visit a couple of them on the same night. Last year the City Council of São Luís and the government of the state of Maranhão were in opposing political hands, so there were two different programmes of events…

The festas juninas in São Luís are not restricted to the bumba-meu-boi. There are also folk performances in the afternoons in museus, cultural centres and public squares, featuring quadrilhas, tambor de crioula and other forms of folklore. Don’t miss them!

WHERE CAN I SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE BUMBA-MEU-BOI?: That’s easy, check out my Flickr album of the bumba-meu-boi.

Don’t forget I’ve already published an entry on São Luís here.

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The capital of the state of Maranhão, built on an island two degrees south of the equator, does not feature among the top Brazilian destinations, in spite of its declaration by Unesco as a World Heritage Site. The city is a unique example of Portuguese colonial architecture on the equatorial region. If you want to discover a completely different Brazil, a couple of days in São Luís will do no harm at all.

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1. HOW TO GET THERE
São Luís is too far away from any other tourist destination. For that reason, the easiest way of getting to the city is by plane. Check flight fares and timetables both with Gol and Tam. You are likely to discover your flight from the southeast region of Brazil to Maranhão will involve a connecting flight in Brasilia.

Alternatively, you can embark yourself on a true road adventure and travel to São Luís from Fortaleza, visiting Jericoacoara and the Lençóis Maranhenses along the way.

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2. WHEN TO GO
The second fortnight in June is the ideal period to visit São Luís, at it is then when the festas juninas take place. The festivities are one of the most wonderful popular festivals in the entire Brazil. Outstanding within the festas juninas, you’ll find the celebration of the
bumba-meu-boi, typical from the state of Maranhão.

If you can’t make your trip to São Luís coincide with the bumba-meu-boi, then try to choose some dates that will allow you to do a side trip to the awesome Lençóis Maranhenses. The best time to visit the region is the period between June and September.

Heavy rain falls in São Luís during the rainy season, from January to May. And we do mean heavy rain.

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3. CAREFUL WITH
The stifling heat all year round. Some shady streets in the historic centre of the city, both day and night. Let your instinct guide you, and always play it safe.

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4. WE LIKE THE MOST
The fantastic architecture, the friendliness of its people.

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5. WE LIKE THE LEAST
The outrageous abandonment and degradation of the historical heritage; the ubiquitous presence of one of the most powerful families in Brazil.

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6. FAVOURITE PLACES
The Projeto Reviver (historic centre of São Luís), the wonderful façade of the Pousada Colonial.

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7. PIECE OF ADVICE

• you can’t just go to São Luís and not visit the outstanding Lençóis Maranhenses. Barreirinhas, the town that acts as an entry point to the Lençóis, is just three hours away from São Luís. If you don’t want to do the trip on your own, you will find in São Luís packages with transport and accommodation sorted out for you.
• from São Luís you can do a day trip to neighbouring Alcântara. You just need to take a boat to get you there. Is the sea is rough that day, you’re likely to get seasick.
• São Luís is the Brazilian capital of reggae music, enjoy it!

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8. HEALTH
You don’t need any vaccines if you are visiting São Luís. Yellow fever is an issue on the Amazon region of the state of Maranhão, but there is no yellow fever in São Luís (last case recorded was in 1942). The main health issue is dengue fever. More information on 10 facts about dengue fever in Brazil.

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9. ACCOMMODATION:

At our Accommodation in Brazil blog you will find a full list of hotels and pousadas in São Luís.

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10. LINKS
Guia São Luís, São Luís .

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11. WEATHER FORECAST
The weather in São Luís for the next 10 days

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12. CLIMATE
Average temperatures and rainfall in São Luís at meoweather.

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13. GOOGLE MAPS
São Luís

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14. PHOTOS
Photo album: São Luís y Alcântara. And our very own photobook Maranhão, images of a Brazilian paradise.

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RELATED POSTS:
Destination: Alcântara
Destination: Lençóis Maranhenses
Reviews: Pousada Portas da Amazônia , São Luís
Maranhão, images of a Brazilian paradise
Bumba-meu-boi
Brazilian videos: festas juninas in São Luís
Brazil in pictures: ceramic tiles of São Luís
Brazil in pictures: scarlet ibis in Alcântara
Doce de espécie

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