There are also many pre-historic
sambaquis,
testimony of an early Brazilian civilization. From the second half of the last century on, particularly
South
Brazil was frequented
by European immigrants. In 1852, the Suisse consul in
Rio de Janeiro,
Perret Gentil, established one of the first European colonies
at the island of Superagüi, with initially 15 families. Among them was
the Suisse professor and painter William Michaud who produced various paintings and
aquarelles demonstrating a deep knowledge of the surrounding nature and its
ecosystems.
Due to difficult climatic conditions and its isolated position the colony
stopped to grow end of the last century. Nowadays, some ruins in the middle of the rainforest
such as the European names and faces of some inhabitants still remember of these times.
Superagui, in reality is an "artificial" island because it is separated from the continent
by the so-called "Varadouro" channel.
The construction of this channel was finished in 1959 connecting
the
Paranaguá bay in the south with the
Trapandé bay in the north, close to
Cananéia.
Before the opening of the channel, there were many adventurers
searching for gold in the area. In order to transport the gold (
ouro) to Cananéia they had
to push (
varar) their canoes long distances over land. In memory of these difficult times,
the channel was named "Varadouro".
There is still some Tupi-Guarani
Indians living within the limits of the Superagüi National Park
causing a constant dispute between the park authority IBAMA and the Indians Association
FUNAI. There are two conflicting laws causing that dispute. One law generally forbids hunting
in protected areas whereas the other law legalizes hunting to the Indians. Apparently, there
have been cases where professional animal trafficants were misusing this right conceded to
the Indians.
See also:
São Paulo - Curitiba (guided tour)
São Paulo - Curitiba (trail maps)
