| |
Introduction
Some consider
the Southern Shores as a region that stretches from the city of
Bertioga (north of Santos) to Cananéia (near the border of the
State of Paraná, in the South, in fact another region called
Ribeira Valley); some others consider it as
a the coast that stretches from Bertioga to the city of Peruíbe, a
region formerly known as "Baixada Santista" and nowadays
called
as The Coast of the Atlantic Forest which is nothing more than
the Southern Shores of the State of São Paulo, the Southern
Littoral. A bit confusing? Not at all! This plain is limited on the East by long beaches with
small dunes and sometimes little beaches separated from each
other by a set of hills. On the West, it is limited by the
heights of the Sea Mountain Range that forms the base of the
Plateau where the City of Sao Paulo is located over the
mountains. This plain is very thin near the Northen Shores
(Cities of Paraty, in the State of Rio de Janeiro, and Ubatuba,
in the State of São Paulo) and also around the City of Santos,
where the Mountains meet the Sea. But southwards, these
Mountains get more distant from the sea, getting its farthest
point at 80 km into the countryside in the region of the Ribeira
River and around the City of Iguape.
The Sea Mountain Range
The Sea
Mountain Range is the second biggest unit on the Paulista (name
meaning "from the State of São Paulo", as New Yorker, etc.)
relief. It's an area full of mountains with cliffs and uttermost
heights that is located in between the littoral plain and the
plateau. In some parts on this littoral plain, the Mountains
seem to fall in the sea, almost vertically, as much like those
mountains in Tahiti. In some other regions as in the South, near
the border of the State of Paraná, the mountains are located
more distant from the sea, as already explained, but there are much more profound
valleys carved in the rocks and mud by ancient rivers such as Ribeira de
Iguape and some other creeks.
The State of
São Paulo is crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn that assures a tropical climate during the year.
The Tropic crosses cites as the own Capital of São Paulo and the
City of Ubatuba, on the Northen Shores. The
Littoral Plain has its own microclimate and temperatures with an
annual media far above 20º C.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
click on the images
to enlarge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Historical Cities
Cities of
historical importance as Saint Vincent (São Vicente) and
Itanhaém, have developed after the discovery, right in the
beginning of the Brazilian History. Many others such as Long
Beach (Praia Grande), Mongaguá, Peruíbe, Iguape and Cananéia
(that may be hard to say in English) were indeed formed from the
base that was established by the Portuguese in Saint Vincent in
the 16th century and also with the administrative separation
from counties (Brazil uses a different system called Municípios,
each city is an own Município and not a county) that formerly
belonged to Itanhaém. For instance, the cites of Mongaguá and
Peruíbe were separated from Itanhaém last century, due to
administrative reasons. The cities of Iguape and Cananéia are
much older, located far in the South, more spared from these
cities. Cananéia in fact was also one of the first places where
the Portuguese arrived after Saint Vincent and Itanhaém, almost
500 years ago. Both Iguape and Cananéia are located in a very
important region, that has the most preserved set of the
Atlantic Forest in this country, sheltering endemic species,
some of them also found on the hills and Mountain Ranges around
Itanhaém.
Resources
The region is
very rich in terms of natural resources such as fishing, since
the waters are brought to the open sea from currents that arrive
directly from the South Pole, making the Southern Shores a place
with extremely rich biodiversity, where there are many species
of fish, crabs and shellfish. Many fishermen from others cities
on the shores of The State of São Paulo, including others from
other States, come here to fish because there are so many
variety of fish. Some fishermen also come from other countries
and fish illegally here, hidden in the vastness of the sea, not
respecting the State Parks around the islands, fishing with
their huge nets that traps everything on their way. Most of them
come form Oriental countries, specially from Japan, and the
Brazilian Navy as well as the Government, are taking severe
measures to stop and punish this illegal practice. Anyway, there
are abundant species of fish, feeding the ones who have on the
fishing industry their only one mean of survival.
The land, is
also rich and diverse! There are small farms and small cultures
called roças assuring all kinds of food such as tomatoes, beans,
green leaves and fruit and also extensive banana and passion
fruit plantations around Itanhaém and Peruíbe and enormous tea
plantations in the Ribeira Valley belonging to Japanese
immigrants that arrived there in the beginning of the 20th
century. Banana, manioc and the fishing industry have long been
the base of the local economy, which can be observed on the
products of the local industry such as the banana candies
produced in Itanhaém for more than a century. Nowadays the
region offers a great variety of goods and services, since most
of the biggest stores in the Capital have branches on the
Southern Shores.
In fact, all
this commerce is favored by modern freeways and roads that link
the region to the capital of São Paulo. During weekdays, when
the traffic is not intense (what not happens in the weekends for obvious
reasons), the trip Itanhaém to São Paulo can take as long as 50
minutes or up to 1 hour. The new descending way from the
Immigrants Complex (Imigrantes) represent a great effort of the
world's human engineering, built in the middle of the Atlantic
Forest, bringing more progress and shrinking distances with the
minimal ambient impact. As one's traveling on Immigrants, it's
impossible not to remember the old days of the Tupiniquim
Indians' Paths in the beginning of the 16th century through
which the Jesuits came from Saint Vincent to Piratininga,
founding the City of São Paulo on the mountains. The city began
to grow around a small Catholic School for the Tupiniquim and
Gauianás Indians, friends of the Portuguese colonizers in the
16th century. The place was safe because it was located on a
hill and this way the priests could watch anyone or anything
moving eastwards, from where the enemies of the Portuguese, the
Tupinambá Indians, used to attack the village. Nowadays the city
of São Paulo is the home for more than 12,000,000 people.
The
Language: Brazilian Softened Portuguese
During the
colonial times, the Portuguese language was taught at the
catholic schools as well as the faith in the real God (the
Indians' God is named Tupã). At that time the language
spoken in Brazil, from north to south was the Tupi, also called
Tupinambá Language. With the extinction and the assimilation of
the Tupinambá Indians as well as other groups, the original
ancient Tupi language began to evolve to a new form of language
called Nheengatu. To illustrate the transformation that took
place, we can give the following example: the name Uwattibi (uba
= canoes; ttibi = a lot of; lots of canoes) was transformed in
Ubatuba; and this happened with all the Tupi vocabulary. In
spite of the fact most Indians were extinct or assimilated in
the Southeastern Brazil, the colonizers began to realize that
the Tupi/Neengatu was in fact spoken by most of the population
even in the 18th century, so they banned that language, making
everyone learn Portuguese. As anyone could forecast, this kind
of law could not work since no one could ban a language all of a
sudden, so the Tupi and its evolved form, the Nheengatu began to
interact with the Portuguese Language evolving later to what is
known nowadays as The Brazilian Softened Portuguese, our
National Secret Code. The language also received a lot of
foreign influences in the second part of the 19th century. With
the end of the slavery, most coffee farms in the State of São
Paulo and in Southern Brazil needed a new workforce that was
supplied with Europeans immigrants. Most of them came form Italy
and Germany, but then later a bigger wave of immigration took
place bringing people from all over the world. There were people
arriving form Japan, China, Korea, Italy, France, Germany,
Spain, Sweden, Africa, Russia, Poland and even from the United
States (at the end of the Secession War - they founded a city in
Brazil named Americana). This makes Brazil looks very, very
different from other South American countries; in fact, a real
melting pot, so one who's traveling southwards may be surprised
finding so many blue eyes and blondes everywhere.
In spite of the
fact we are in the 21st century, many North Americans as well as
some Europeans still think that Spanish is spoken in Brazil,
what is totally inaccurate and wrong. In fact, as many other
Latin languages, the written Brazilian Portuguese may look like
Spanish or even Italian, but the stress, rhythm, intonation and
pronunciation makes the language totally different from these
other languages. If it were so similar to Spanish, anyone living
in other South American countries would understand what a
Brazilian says. They just do not understand anything or being
very lenient, most of the things we say. And the difference
becomes even bigger because of the Tupi and Nheengatu languages
that were introduced into the Portuguese Language. This
difference makes Brazilian Portuguese sounds different from the
language spoken in Portugal too. Compared to English, the
difference between Brazilian Portuguese and the language spoken
in Portugal is much bigger than the one between American English
and British English. For instance, words as abacaxi (pineapple)
and macacujá (passion fruit) can only be recognized in Brazil
since in Portugal these fruits are respectively named ananás and
fruto da paixão. But those are not the only differences; this
happens with thousands and thousands of other words and
expressions. So, some foreigners may be asking themselves now
what Brazilian Portuguese sounds like. If we can compare it, the
language sounds as a mixture of Indian vocabulary as the one in
the USA (Miami, Sioux, Chattanooga, etc.) and French, Italian
and Spanish (from Spain and not the other language spoken in
South American countries), all wrapped in one language.
The City of Itanhaém
The City of
Itanhaém has an unique relief among the vastness of the beaches
formed with small dunes on the Southern Shores. It has a set of
hills and a rocky coastline ad its rivers are also unique in
terms of the amount of the flow of freshwater. The Itanhaém
River is formed by The Black and The White Rivers and their
banks make up a very important wetland due to the many species
of flora and the fauna that shelters there. The waterfalls
hidden in the deep bluish green of the Sea Mountain Range make
an unforgettable spectacle of grandeur. Even in the urban area
you can cross a street and find a pristine River or an Island
covered with the Atlantic Forest, full of native natural life as
it really happens with the Sapucaitava Hill, the Givurá Island and
with the set of beaches that surrounds these places.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
click on the images
to enlarge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The incredible
vastness of the Cibratel Beach contrasts on the background with
the Juréia and Itatins Mountain Ranges in Peruíbe, a city next
to Itanhaém. The Cibratel Beach is crossed by the Gaivota
River which its mouth is located right across from the Gaivota
Island, a place where the visitor will realize the exact
dimension of the infinity of vastness of the place. Juréia with
its mountains on the background, seems to fall in the sea with
its pristine beaches, home of rare endangered species of the
flora and the fauna what made the government create a State Park
there a few years ago.
The Juréia and
Itanhaém with their sets of hills and Mountain Ranges are in
fact the same region, the same Southern Littoral, part of the
same shores that have the most preserved portion of Atlantic
Forest in the State of São Paulo. The region is also linked to
the Ribeira Valley, located a bit far southwards. It's a huge
region of nature preservation where you'll find banana and tea
plantations, where a train that transported the goods used to
honk in the starry nights...That sound seems to echo until
today, making us remember the past, even after the its end at
the end of the 90's.
On The Southern
Shores, the visitor will find famous beaches, some others
pristine, totally empty, still, some of great extension and some
too thin, which sands are compressed between the water and the
rocky coastline. Some other beaches have a rough sea and some
others are indicated for that soothing relax. So, there
are beaches on the Southern Shores for all moods and tastes.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
click on the images
to enlarge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Diving - The Islands
Some people think that the waters on the Southern Shores are not
fit to a good diving. On the contrary, the waters can be crystal
clear and definitely good for diving and underwater fishing, but
their clarity and transparency are subject to seasonality due to
the currents that arrive from the deep South. Although there's
this seasonality of the waters, the best diving spot in
Southeastern Brazil is found in Itanhaém.
Those are the
Islands of Queimada Grande and Queimada Pequena (fishing/disembarking is
forbidden - State Parks, even though you can dive around the
islands only for observation). In Queimada Grande's waters, the
blue is intense and untouched during all year long; the island
waters has the so-called "international visibility",
therefore also known as one of the best diving spots in the
world. The marine life there is abundant and untouched. Queimada
Grande is also surrounded by many shipwrecks that have become,
during the years, the home and shelter for many species of fish.
These islands and the islet called Laje da Conceição can be
easily reached by one of the boats that covers this itinerary,
leaving the Small Port (Portinho in Brazilian Portuguese) on the
bank of the Itanhaém River, near the ancient train bridge. So,
come with us to discover and get to know everything about one of
the most beautiful regions of the State of São Paulo, located in
Southeastern Brazil. Welcome to the Southern Shores!
SORRY FOR THE
INCONVENIENCE - MOST MENUS IN ENGLISH ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION -
THANK YOU |
|
