Tuesday, July 08, 2008

It's a long way

On BR-163, alias Santarém-Cuiabá Highway, there's an official road sign showing distances from the army base all the way to Porto Alegre, more than 5,000 kilometers away. It's not an easy place to stop, so I decided to do one of my own in the peace and quiet of Bosque Santa Lúcia. Last week I took advantage of Cleuson's good lettering ability to do it. For a guy who hasn't much more than primary education, he has a great hand for doing things like this. Poço Branco is the name of the village where the Bosque is located. The literal translation is "white well", referring to the whitish color of the water in the old indigenous waterhole. BR-163 refers to the aforementioned federal highway. Cuiabá is the next major city, located in Mato Grosso, nearly 2,000 kilometers down the road. Only 100 kilometers are paved in Pará. After getting to Mato Grosso, there's more asphalt.

3 comments:

Jeremy M. Campbell said...

Gorgeous signpost, Steve! Cleuson is an amazing talent, and with his handiwork no tourist will ever get lost (as long as they're close to the museum)!

Wieslaw Jan Syposz said...

Steven, I have learned that the distance in Amazon is not measured by kilometers but by the time of travel: days, weeks or months. Number of kilometers means absolutely nothing in the place where the roads are not maintained and the rain makes often impossible to access certain areas.

Cheers,
Wes

Gil Serique: Culture, Windsurf & Wildlife In the Amazon said...

Super Cool!!!