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Where the Rivers Meet

So, it's been a while since my last update. I went to a place called Encontro dos Rios this weekend - this holiday weekend. Encontro dos Rios is Portuguese for "River Encounter", but its better translated as Where the Rivers Meet.

There are two rivers in this small Brazilian city of 700,000. Poty River and Parnaiba River. They connect at Encontro dos Rios which is kind of a tourist spot with some local folklore of a character called "Cabeca de Cuia" or basically "Bowl Head".



I'm not quite sure HOW the story goes, but he allegedly got angry with his mother then killed and ate virgins - and apparently all of that near the river or in the river.




There's a park at this location and also a restaurant called "Restaurante Flutuante" which means Floating Restaurnat - and as you can see its suspended on the water. I didn't eat there, but thought it was an interesting idea.


Bad thing with this river is that it has a lot of pollution. The local residents and government don't do much to take care of it, and in Brazil there are not many environmental protection groups who care enough about the pollution to clean it up. Basically, because no one will make money off it, no one wants to do it.

The pictures don't reflect the pollution, and truly, this area was not so bad. Most of the pollution that the water has is chemical pollution.



Now, you may be asking, are these rivers branches of the Amazon River? The answer is no.




Now - this place is not an easy drive from where I live. You basically drive from the nice side of town and through the poor side of town, into villages of mud huts to get here. Donkeys abound along the road, unattended.



And watch out for the bikers and pedestrians. Cars are insanely expensive for people here, so its not everyone that has one, especially on this side of town. But what this side of town has in abundance is motels. In the picture below, you will see a long line of motels. Now, these aren't your grandma's motels. And you wouldn't want to tell your grandma you went to one of these. These are "romantic" motels with hourly rates. In Portuguese, the word "Motel" always and only signifies these types of places. It never signifies an overnight place while you're traveling. They're 2 hour pit-stops for people who met someone at a party. Because they can't take the people home - because the majority of the population lives with their parents well into their 30's.



But, let me conclude with this. The Encontro dos Rios is also a place to buy Arts & Crafts, which I didn't do. But I found this weird naked wooden indian. Who is apparently not ashamed to be going without pants...