Morro de São Paolo seen by Jean-Paul Delfino
North of the Tinharé island, the largest and most welcoming island of this archipelago which is south of the town of Bahia, stands the Morro de Saõ Paulo from which at a single glance, one can enjoy an extensive view over some of the most beautiful beaches of North-East Brazil. And there, in these jealously protected surroundings, where cars are not allowed and where you are welcome to rent carts, you are offered a lot more than a simple touristic site. As a matter of fact, the Morro de Saõ Paulo used to be, during the colonial period, one of the most famous sites of Brazilian history.
And it is on those shores of crystalline changing waters, formerly peopled by the Tupiniquins and Aymorès tribes that the Portuguese landed for the first time in 1531. But soon, this site became an extremely important strategic point since it was used to protect the entrance to the Itaparica canal, crucial for Salvador de Bahia’s supplies. Thus, in 1630, under the command of Governor Diogo Luis de Oliveira, the the Saõ Paulo fort was built. A century later, in 1728, the Ponta Fort was erected, and in 1746, it was Fort Grande’s turn.
Not very far from there, the island of Boipeba (which means flat snake in the Tupi language, a name they give to sea turtles), invites you to a real leap back in the past. And in order to do so, only by boat can one land on the beaches leading either to the mangroves, to the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic Forest), to the white sand dunes and to the artistic alignments of coral reefs. Owing to these coral barriers the island of Boipeba has managed to keep the entire riches of its fauna and its flora. Of course you will find turtles, sea-urchins, dolphins or star-fish, but there are also humming-birds, foxes, armadillos and reptiles that let you have an insight into nature’s most beautiful and most precious treasures.
For maximum immersion into that very specific atmosphere on the island, a walk to the four villages (Velha Boipeba, Saõ Sebastiaõ, Moreré and Monte Alegre) will allow you to discover another rare and not well known aspect of Brazil. The most difficult part, after all, is to realize that this halt is only just a halt and that, willy-nilly, one will have to leave this incomparable island…
Written by : © Jean-Paul Delfino (This text is subject to copyrights protection in accordance with existing laws)
Our description of Morro de São Paolo and Boipeda is on this web page : https://terra-nordeste.com/en/destination/boipeba-morro-de-sao-paolo-en/
Other texts by Jean-Paul Delfino are available here: Travel Diaries - Jean-Paul Delfino
Jean-Paul Delfino is a French writer and screenwriter so passionate about Brazil that he has taken on the writing of a major novel fresco entitled "Suite brésilienne" which covers three centuries of great Brazilian history.
Wikipedia : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Delfino
