Mermaids, Princesses, and Carimbó

by Lucas Silva (Brazil)

A leap into the unknown Brazil

In the northeast of the state of Pará, crossing the Marapanim bay, I arrived at Maiandeua Island: 19 km² of amazonian mermaids, princesses, and carimbó. Two days before I was at Macapá, the capital city of the state of Amapá, where you can only reach by air or water. The second-largest city of Amapá is Santana, where the port of Santana is located, from where most of the ships sets sail. So I went to the port and got a ship to Belém, the capital city of Pará. It was 26 hours through the immensity of the Amazon River, in the company of the amazon river dolphins. Just amazing! Next morning I docked at the port of Belém, where we have the cosy Estação das Docas. My real goal was 140 km northeast, so I enjoyed a day and a night in Belém, and just set off the next day. 4 hours on the bus, passing through several small villages, and I arrived at Marudá, a district of Marapanim. A 40-minute crossing through Marapanim bay and I could already see the super white sand in contrast to the towering mangroves. The island is popularly known as Ilha do Algodoal, because of the so many plants called Algodão de Seda (Apple of Sodom), whose white seeds dances with the wind, reminiscent of Algodão (I mean cotton). Then I realize... I couldn't find cars or motorcycles on the island. The rule is: You can walk, or you can take a horsecar. In order to settle and get some lunch, I picked up a horsecar for an inn at Algodoal Village, the largest of the four villages of Maiandeua. Then I had my first animal-crazy-stuff on the Island. My horse just got crazy and started to gallop very fast, until it stopped. Then it started to gallop again... and stopped. And again, and again, and again, and we arrived at the inn. As soon as I got to my room door, I saw a graceful super green Iguana, taking a sunbath. Then onwards, whenever I opened my room door, there it was, staring at me. That was crazy! But the crazy-stuff didn't stop right there. At night, I left for a walk in the village. Maiandeua is the Carimbó Island indeed. Whenever you go, there is some old man playing and singing, even in the morning. So I enjoyed the night a little bit, watching a pretty almost-full-moon, and when I returned to the inn, the iguana was not there. There was a colourful frog in its place, starring to my room. I was scared about it was poisonous, but it was so beautiful, and what did it want in my room? I'll probably never know. So I got to sleep... Next morning, as soon as I opened the door, there was no frog, no Iguana. There was a turtle. A tiny and cute turtle, just staring at my door. I could not believe in such a coincidence. Well, the whole Amazon is filled with myths and legends. I remember that I heard on the ship, about a city in the state of Pará, that would be, literally, on top of a snake. The natives would have enchanted this snake in the past and the city just developed on top. At Maiandeua is not so different. I heard from a native that a mermaid body has been found at the island 3 years ago. He really believed in that. The most beautiful places I got on the island was the Beach of the Princess and the Dunes of the Princess. For the natives, the princess is like an entity, a real-spiritual-form. I spent three days dancing Carimbó with the princess and the mermaids. But it got to the end. My return ticket was already purchased, so I crossed back through the bay and got ahead to Belém. At Belém, while I was waiting for the time to go to the airport, I turned on the TV, and it was playing a show about Carimbó and Maiandeua Island. They said "Chico Braga", and I remembered of hearing from a native: "The King of Carimbó. He didn't die, the princess picked him up".