Marajó, the island of cowboys and tropical wildlife

Marajó, the real land of plenty!

A chunk of Earth just 10 meters above the waves, the island will offer you an unforgettable experience facing the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean with beautiful beaches battered by the waves. Its relative isolation and focus on rural development have allowed it to retain its authenticity.

It is precisely this traditional life that you will discover during your stay on the island – housed in a hotel located on a fazenda, closer to the reality of your environment. All without sacrificing comfort and well-being on site thanks to simple and welcoming installations on the premises.

On this fazenda of thousands of hectares where herds of buffalo graze freely, you will have the opportunity to discover the simple way of life of the natives, one of listening closely to nature. The local culture is Métis, rich from the meeting between the agricultural science of the European colonists and the unparalleled knowledge of the local environment exhibited by the natives.

Horseback and buffalo riders, the “vaqueiro” (local cowboy) will take you across the land to see how the day-to-day life of men and women living from meat production is. You will also find along the “igarapés” (waterways) the traces of the first inhabitants of the island, the Amerindian civilization Marajoara, famous for its ceramics.

On the coast, a few quiet villages huddled around their stone churches overlooking beautiful white beaches that seem to reach the horizon will allow you to discover more deeply the lives of locals but also to acquire some pieces of the famous local pottery.

The mouth of the Amazon, an exceptional ecosystem

The diversity and the preservation of the biotopes offered by the island of Marajó, results in a trip in the presence of an exceptionally rich fauna and flora.

This travel package will allow all nature lovers to easily reach places where the observation of species as varied as the crested caracara (falcon), the scarlet ibis, the toucan, or the capybara is very much possible.

In the rainy season, from January to June, it is one of the rare northern destinations that is of real interest despite heavy rainfall. Indeed, the island is home to very large colonies of migratory birds from North America, bringing a new dimension to bird watching.

To the west of the island lies a dense equatorial forest, reputed to be impenetrable without a pirogue (boat). It is home to all the typical Amazonian wildlife including caiman, anaconda and lazy animals as comfortable on the land as in the water!

During the excursions that will be available to you, you will be able to mount a Marajoara horse , (the race native to the island) in unique surroundings where vast meadows, Amerindian tesos and marshes with giant trees are dotted with houses supported by stilts.

We can testify that every moment spent here is one spent in awe at the beauty of nature and the culture it has shaped. Herds grazing serenely in the marshes with flamboyant parrots passing by over monkeys and sloths, you will discover a remarkable and colourful natural world!

Herds of buffalo and their mysterious arrival on the island…

The island of Marajó today has a population of more than 400 000 buffalo, but the story of their arrival here remains rather vague. Legend has it that a French boat carrying a flock to French Guiana sank in the Amazon Delta on a stormy day.

These large animals are notorious swimmers and the survivors are said to have found the island by swimming here.

Considering the extreme richness of the local environment, the few animals multiplied and breeding began. Today there are more than 400,000 specimens that populate the island and they are the main source of local income.