Raised streets
Over the water.
Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0 · Rômulo Ferreira — CC BY 2.0
Afuá is a unique town on the north-west tip of Marajó Island in Pará, in the Amazon delta, on an inner river bay, nicknamed the «Venice of Marajó» because it is built on wooden stilts over water and tidal mud. It began around 1845, when a woman named Micaela Arcanja Ferreira settled here; the spot became a harbour and stopping point for boats crossing the Amazon estuary, and houses grew around it until it became a town. No cars run on its raised stilt streets: people get about on foot or by bicycle, including its distinctive bicycle taxis. It is reached by boat from Macapá or Belém, and offers a rare taste of life in an Amazon water town.
Over the water.
And bike taxis.
Water-town life.
Afuá, north-west tip of Marajó Island, Pará state
By boat from Macapá or Belém.