PlacesMato Grosso do Sul
Piraputanga
The ridge on one side, the river on the other, the railway between.
01The place
The district is named after a fish. The fish is still in the river.
Piraputanga is a district of Aquidauana, in Mato Grosso do Sul, at the foot of the Serra de Maracaju and on the bank of the Aquidauana river. It takes its name from the fish, Brycon hilarii, common in the waters of the region.
The cliffs are red sandstone, of the Aquidauana Formation, far older than any road. Since 2000 the stretch has been protected: the Estrada-Parque de Piraputanga follows the MS-450 road for some forty kilometres, between Aquidauana and Dois Irmãos do Buriti, by way of Camisão, Piraputanga and Palmeiras.
The railway came before the tarmac. The Noroeste do Brasil line set out from Bauru in 1905 and reached Porto Esperança, on the edge of the Pantanal, in 1914. The tracks run through the district.
Rio Aquidauana, MS
02Why here
Because here Brazil is inland.
There is no sea. There is a river with a current, red stone and a silence the coast does not know.
Those who come once start counting the year differently.
03Images
From the river to the top of the ridge.
04What one does here
Verbs, not a programme.
Climb
Morro do Paxixi, at Camisão, and look out over the plain.
Drift
Down the river, at its own pace.
Ride
At the foot of the cliff.
Listen
For the river. It is heard before it is seen.
Stay
Until the stone changes colour.
05The region
The park road and the track.
At Camisão, Morro do Paxixi is the lookout of the range. Aquidauana, founded in 1892, is the nearest town and the gateway to the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The tracks of the Noroeste still follow the river.
Beyond, the Pantanal plain: other rivers, another park road, the same water.
Those who come once start counting the year differently.
Piraputanga · Mato Grosso do Sul
06The other places
