Brazil Travel: Barra do Garcas

Nestled at the foot of Serra do Roncador, Barra do Garcas is located directly at the confluence of two rivers: Rio Garcas and Rio Araguaia. The municipality itself, with about 60,000 inhabitants, is located in the Midwest of Brazil between Brasilia and Cuiaba in the state of Mato Grosso and marks the transition of the Cerrado (Brazilian grasslands) to the Amazon Basin. Due to its strategic location, the area was settled early on by indigenous peoples of the Bororo and Xavante tribes, who are still known throughout the country for their strength and courage and who opposed Portuguese colonialism aggressively. The surrounding reservations are home to about 28,000 people of the Xavante tribe. On their holidays, competitions are held in Barra do Garcas, such as the tree trunk race. On the 5- to 6-mile track (8 to 10 kilometers), participants take turns carrying tree stumps weighing up to 220 pounds (100 kilograms).
Today, Barra do Garcas, apart from local trade, is sustaining itself more and more from eco-tourism, as the natural attractions—dozens of waterfalls in the surrounding mountains of Serra do Roncador and Serra Azul, river beaches, hot springs and the diverse fauna along the transition to the Amazon Basin—attract more and more visitors. But the area is also known among ufologists, who suspect a UFO landing site in Barra do Garcas.
Barra do Garcas is still hardly to be found on the well-known tourist routes and thus offers a rustic and realistic picture of a small Brazilian town in the interior and the surroundings promise a unique nature experience.

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