Cananeia: Brazil's ecological paradise

View of Cardoso Island (Ilha do Cardoso) took from Long Island (Ilha Comprida)

Cananeia is the city most South in the State of São Paulo and only has 12 thousand inhabitants. Cananeia is the oldest portuguese settlement of Brazil, the first settlers arrived in 1502 – before the foundation of the officially oldest city in Brazil, São Vicente.

One of two ferryboats in Cananeia

You approach the city by ferryboat or over a bridge. Passing the bridge it is worthwhile to make a stop and take a look from the bridge. If you take the tour via ferry you pass a waterfall, still on the continental side.

Waterfall on the continental side of Cananeia

The region was many years a place of adventurers and french, spanish and portuguese pirates who fought each other, to mark their territorries, hoping to find big treasures in this new world. Especially the Spanish and the Portuguese were involved. On January, 24, 1502 an exploration expedition arrived with the famous cartograph Amerigo Vespucci on board of the vessel.

Years later, Portugal sent another expedition to found a colony. The armada under the command of Martim Afonso de Souza arrived on the island of Bom Abrigo, the place of Cananéia, in 1531. There they met six europeans living in a family, two hundred mesticos and 1,500 indians in the community of Maratayama, later called Cananéia. This is proved in the diary of the captain of the armada Pêro Lopes, the brother of Martim Afonso de Souza.

Cananéia was whitness of many conflicts and as it had a perfect natural harbor, there were shipyardsinstalled. repairing and building ships was a big business in the 17th and 18th century. In 1782 the city had 16 shipyards and already more than 200 ships built.

The city was also attacked many times and the inhabitants flew to the church "São João Baptista", built in the 16th century. As the church has no windows but big and heavy doors, it was a safe place for the people.

There are not many tourists coming here, in summer 2010 only 30 thousand visitors came to visit the UN Nature Heritage. The historic center around the church is well restaurated, it is a lovely place to have lunch or dinner in one of therestaurants (suggestion: fish or oysters) or sit with the people on one of the banks under the trees in front of the church. Especially in the street at the riverside there are some more restaurants.

Colorful historic center at the riverside where you can find good restaurants

In a bay close to Cananéia there are many tucuxi-dolfins, the only ones that live in rivers as well as in the ocean. You can see them always, so just make a tour by boat. If you go to the Ilha do Cardoso, you cross this area with dolphins, too.

From Cananéia you have the possibility to access the island Ilha do Cardoso. It is a place to leave all your busy life behind as there is no mobile or internet connection. Only the pousadas have telephone.

In Cananéia you may take the ferry to Ilha Cardoso, which needs about 3 hours until the arrival in Marujá at the southern end of the Ilha do Cardoso, where the guest houses (pousadas) are located. The other possibility is to rent a boat (lancha) which only takes about 50 minutes to the island. Four persons pay about the same price as going by the ferry boat. At the pier they help you to complete the four persons. The tour is not on the ocean side of the island but using the Channel of Ararapira between the island and the continent. 

Sandbank in the way to Cardoso Island

Heading for the island the boat crosses e bay in which you can see lots of dolphins (specy: tucuxi, which is the only one living in ocean and river). In the channel you see magroves on both sides of the shore, flowers and many birds as well. Maybe the driver of the boat makes a small stop to show you a sambaqui, a hill of shells.

The island is a protected area. Only who is born there has the permission to live on the island, or who married somebody from the island and lived there for at least two years. Today there are 480 persons living in a few villages (Marujá, Enseada da Baleia, Pontal de Leste, Foles, Cambriú, Itacuruçá, Pereirinha) on Ilha do Cardoso, they are mainly fishermen. As there are no roads, no school buses exist. But a school boat, that picks up the children and brings them to school. The inhabitants are descendents of Europeans, mainly mesticos and indians of the tribe guarani-mbyá.

Cardoso Island

The pousadas are very simple, you can´t expect food of a four star restaurant. Except fish the inhabitants have to transport everything from Cananéia to the island. Electric energy is produced by solar panels and a generator which is shut off at about 22:30 in the evening. In the evening all guests and many inhabitants meet at the restaurant or the bar of the pousada, it is easy to have good conversations.

As the number of visitors is restricted, controlled by the number of available beds you should especially during holydays book your room before going there.

Only five minutes walking from the pousadas, crossing a dune area, you arrive at the beach where you can make long walks, take a sun bath or make a tour by bicycle (there are some for rent at the pousadas). Other tours are longer, as for example a tour of 24 kms to a place with natural swimming pools (Laje) at the seaside of the island. For others you must do by boat as to a beautiful waterfall with a natural swimming pool, watching alligators and plancton in the night. Tour to a sambaqui, an archeological places of shells. Or going to several other places.

Another attraction is the replica of the mark of the Treaty of Tordesilhas at the beach Praia de Itacurussá. It is the same location where the original stood, which is today in the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute in Rio de Janeiro. The Treaty war signed between Spain and Portugal in 1494, dividing the world in SPanish and Portuguese interests. The mark on the island was set during an expedition of Amerigo Vespucci in 1501 and 1504 and stayed there until it was brought to Rio de janeiro in 1841.

Mark of the Treaty of Tordesilhas

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