Ok, since I haven’t been particularly good at updating, I’ll just start at the end and work my way back eventually.  Alcântara was our last stop before heading home to Sobradinho.  Just across the bay from São Luis, the capital of Maranhão state, Alcântara was the richest town in northern Brazil at one time and the capital of Maranhão.  The capital was moved to São Luis some time in the 17th century and it seems that since then it has been gracefully falling apart.  The two claims to fame that Alcântara has are pretty decaying colonial buildings from that time period (including the oldest surviving whipping post in Brazil – put up in 1647) and the home of the Brazilian space program. 

Here’s a few pictures of the town:

Church and Whipping post

Museum of the Brazilian space program.

Tomb marking