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Most travellers spending time in Tocantins come to explore the Ilha do Bananal and the Parque Nacional do Araguaia in the island's northern reaches, an emerging ecotourist destination. Bananal is the world's largest river island, over 300km long from head to tail, and is home to the intrepid, canoe-faring Karaja tribe, still renowned for their fine feather craftsmanship and clay dolls. You need permission to enter the park from Ibama in Brasilia or Goiania. Although designated a national park, the Ilha do Bananal has lost over fifty percent of its area to settlers and development. In 1958, the British explorer, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, visited the island and its communities of several thousand Indians and witnessed two shamans performing ritual dances. Yet just thirteen years later, there were only eight hundred Indians left on the island, and today the few hundred survivors are far outnumbered by the many thousands of non-Indian Brazilian settlers. These days traditional Indian dances are rarely performed except on official state occasions. This apart, it's an easy place to immerse yourself in the wonders of the forest. Wildlife is varied and plentiful, and it's even possible to spot a maned wolf or otters if you've the time to spend searching during the rainy season. However, as there are no roads on the island, travel is only possible by boat, which means either renting one, with a boatman as guide, in one of a small number of settlements on the island fringes or in Aruana; or taking an organized tour from Barra do Garcas on the Mato Grosso border or from one of the big cities. Travel agents in Goiania and Brasilia can put together tours; in Sao Paulo, Iate Clube, Rua Mauricio Jaquei 62 (Rudge Ramos), Sao Bernardo do Campo (tel 011/457-3277), offers fishing trips on the Rio Cristalino, a tributary of the Araguaia, including stays in their four-bed cabins in the park. Access to the southern part of the island is usually from SAO MIGUEL DO ARAGUAIA , some 480km northwest of Goiania, where the Rio Araguaia starts to split to form the boundaries of the island. The nearby fishing port of Porto Luis Alves functions picturesquely as the starting point on the river, and has a couple of good but expensive accommodation options: try the Hotel Mirante do Araguaia (tel 062/702-1155 or tel & fax 062/271-5815; $50-70) which has boats for hire, or the Hotel Jabaru (tel 062/271-5355, fax 271-5815; $50-70), which has a pool, and offers guided walks and information on boat trips, especially for fishing. You should also try the boat crews themselves at the docks for possible river journeys (from $200 per day for a boat for up to eight people). Sao Miguel itself is much cheaper for accommodation. Outstanding value, with good, clean rooms, all with TVs and fridges, is Pousada Luz do Araguaia, Rua 12, no. 371, Setor Oeste (tel 062/772-1122; $20-35); singles are especially cheap here. Another good option is the Hotel Paraiso, Av. Jose Pereira Nascimento 317 (tel 062/774-1061; $10-20). There are daily overnight buses to Sao Miguel and Porto Luis Alves from Goiania. Further north, about halfway along the western edge of the Ilha do Bananal, is the port of SAO FELIX DO ARAGUAIA . The only settlement of any size around the island, Sao Felix is one of the few places where you can buy much in the way of stores. There's a nice beach, the Praia do Morro , 2km north of town. The Pousada Kuryala, 20km away, is a good if expensive base ($90-125); you can make reservations at their Goiania office on Avenida Republica do Libano (tel 062/215-1313). The Hotel Xavante, Av. Severiano Neves 391 (tel 063/522-1305; $10-20), is more central and much better value. For boat trips, ask at the port along Avenida Araguaia. Irregular buses link the town with Barra do Garcas along the BR-158. Sao Felix is also served by air taxis from Brasilia and Goiania; you can arrange flights at the airstrip itself. Some 150km further north is SANTA TEREZINHA , the nearest point of access to the Parque Nacional do Araguaia. Situated on the western bank of the Rio Araguaia, it also backs onto the small Tapirape Karaja Indian Reserve , for which you should seek permission from FUNAI in Brasilia to enter. There are no facilities for tourists as yet, and access to the town is along a very bad dirt road or else by air. As there are no bus services, you could try hitching a lift from Santana do Araguaia (300km north), which is connected by bus to Araguaina. Much easier to access is the small settlement of PARAISO DO TOCANTINS , another base for visiting the northern section of Ilha do Bananal and the Parque Nacional do Araguaia. It's due west of Palmas on the BR-153, and has one excellent-value hotel, Serrano's Park, Av. Bernardo Sayao 250 (tel 063/602-1410, fax 602-1463; $35-50), with a pool and sauna. From Paraiso, a long dirt road runs to the settlement of Araguacui, 200km northwest on the Rio Araguaia, from where it should be possible to hitch a lift on a boat south along one of the two rivers flanking the Ilha do Bananal. Alternatively, another dirt road swings off west from the BR-153 some 40km south of Paraiso to connect with the even smaller settlement of Barreira da Cruz on the eastern side of the Ilha; here there are no facilities at all for visitors and the success of your trip will depend entirely on your skills in negotiating boat rental and guides with local fazendeiros.
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