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 Almost
1000km from Rio
and located in
the barren
sertão of
the Goiás
highlands - very
much in rural,
peasant Brazil -
Brasília
is the largest
and most
interesting of
the world's "planned
cities".
Declared the
national capital
in 1960, the
futuristic city
is located in a
federal zone of
its own -
Brasília D.F.
(Distrito
Federal) - right
in the centre of
Goiás state. But
until the city's
construction
this was one of
Brazil's most
isolated regions,
and the opening
up of
communications,
coupled with a
concerted drive
to exploit the
hinterland, has
led to a process
of rapid
transformation.
Much of the
finance for
Brasília, and
for the
Transamazonian
road network
which has
appeared over
the last three
or four decades,
was borrowed by
the Brazilian
authorities on a
more or less
conditional
basis - the
condition being
that they agreed
to a massive "development"
campaign for the
region. Funds
and tax
incentives were
made available
to persuade some
of the largest
national and
international
companies to
take part, and
by the late
1960s it
suddenly became
feasible (because
of the new roads)
and economically
viable (because
of the
favourable
bureaucratic
assistance from
Brasília) to
drop bulldozers
by helicopter
into the
interior. The
bulldozers
felled trees
around the edge
of a clearing
until the
perimeter met
the path of
another incoming
bulldozer. In
this way,
forest clearance
on a gigantic
scale led, in a
matter of years,
to the creation
of enormous
pasture lands
for beef cattle,
mostly for the
European and
American fast-food
markets. One of
the worst
aspects of this
kind of
development was
that -
technically -
the tax relief
was only
available to
companies which
were utilizing
at least half of
the land they
had claimed.
Since all that
the companies
were expected to
do was to clear
half the land by
felling the
trees and
burning off the
stubble, forest
involvement for
many of the
largest
companies was
little more than
a financial game,
the cost of
which was the
extermination of
huge tracts of
the world's
remaining virgin
forest. Although
cattle
ranching is
still one of the
leading
industries in
the region,
there are signs
that this
particular type
of "development"
is slowing down:
the tax
advantages are
now much less,
and, on top of
that, most of
the best and
easily
accessible land
has already been
claimed and at
least partly
cleared.
Brasília's
only real
attraction - but
reason enough to
make the effort
- is its unique
city
architecture
. The futuristic
forms of the
National Theatre,
cathedral and
Congress
buildings are a
sight you'll
never forget:
cold, concrete
and utterly
compelling -
though nowadays
saplings planted
in the last
century are
beginning to
green up the
otherwise barren
city centre.
There are parks
and the large
man-made Lago
Paranoá
close to the
city and, within
day-trip
distance,
there's the
small rural town
of Cristalina
where crystals
and semi-precious
stones are more
common than
bread. The
city's also well
connected by
long, but good-quality,
roads to
the rest of the
country - to the
Mato Grosso to
the west, to
Belém and the
Northeast, to
Rio, São Paulo
and the South,
and to the even
more distant
Rondônia and
Acre in the
western Amazon.
At the heart
of Brazil the
states of Goiás
and Tocantins
give birth to
the mighty
Araguaia and
Tocantins rivers
which divide the
Amazon basin and
much of the Mato
Grosso from the
more populated
areas around Rio,
Minas Gerais and
the Northeast.
It's a huge,
wild area,
largely off the
beaten tourist
track. The state
of Goiás itself
remained largely
unexplored until
this century.
Much of the
northern half
was composed of
relatively
virgin forest, a
haven for
previously
unknown Indian
tribes. Today,
long bus rides
take you into
the scenic
Chapada dos
Veadeiros
national park
and, in
Tocantins, to
the world's
largest river
island, the
Ilha do Bananal
. Goiás is
opening up to
ecotourism based
around the
extensive and
distinctive
sertão
wilderness areas
and the historic
towns of
Pirenópolis
and Goiás
Velho . In
the south, the
planned city of
Goiânia
is the state
capital.
The states of
Goiás and
Tocantins
Beyond the city
and Federal
District of
Brasília, the
hill-studded,
surprisingly
green plains of
Goiás state
extend towards
another planned
city, Goiânia
, and the
historic old
towns of
Pirenópolis
and Goiás
Velho .
Although gold
mining started
here in a small
way during the
seventeenth
century, the
first genuine
settlement was
not until 1725.
These days
agriculture is
the main
activity: cattle
in their
millions, pigs,
rice, maize,
soya, sugar cane
and fruits.
In the north
of Goiás rises
the mystical
mountain range
and national
park of the
Chapada dos
Veadeiros
with its deep,
impressive cave
system of
Terra Ronca
. In the south,
the thermal
springs of
Caldas Novas
and Rio
Quente
bubble up into
giant hotel
complexes, while,
over on the
western border
with Mato
Grosso, the
Emas National
Park is
packed with
wildlife, in
particular the
large American
rhea.
The mighty
Rio Araguaia (which
means Macaw
River in Tupi
Indian language),
with its many
beautiful, sandy
beaches, forms
the
1200-kilometre-long
western frontier
of both Goiás
and Tocantins
states. The
state of
Tocantins ,
created for
political rather
than geographic
or economic
reasons in 1989,
contains the
huge river
island, Ilha
do Bananal ,
and its
National Park of
Araguaia .
The main and
central section
(BR-153) of the
2000-kilometre-long
highway from
Goiânia and
Brasília to
Belém also runs
through
Tocantins. The
only town of any
significance is
Araguaína
, a flyblown
settlement in
the middle of a
largely
deforested
savanna.
Both Goiás
and Tocantins
are fairly well
served by bus
but, in many
ways, this is
new territory
for travellers
to explore, most
foreign visitors
travelling
straight through
the region en
route to better-known
destinations
such as the
Amazon and Mato
Grosso. If you
have the time,
however, Goiás
in particular
offers a variety
of interesting
stops. The area
is popular with
Brazilian
holiday-makers,
and the tourist
industry is
beginning to get
organized. There
is already a
wide range of
good hotels
throughout the
region and some
excellent eating
places if you
know where to
look.
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