Soure (Marajó Island)

Soure needs 2 days: touring its freshwater river beaches like Praia do Pesqueiro on one, and visiting a buffalo ranch, the animal that replaced the horse as transport and even police patrol on the island, on the other. June-December brings the dry season. It's inexpensive by Amazonian standards, with little tourist development. Marajó is the world's largest fluvial-maritime island, roughly the size of Switzerland, formed from Amazon river sediment, and its Marajoara pottery tradition -with unique geometric motifs inherited from pre-Columbian cultures- is recognized as one of South America's oldest and most elaborate.