After cruising about 500 miles up the Amazon River in northern Brazil, we were happy to get off our ship at the little port town of Santarem.

There's some US history here: more than 100 Confederate soldiers and their families settled here after losing our Civil War. They built this town which became very useful as a port on the Amazon River.

But the main place of interest is in a nearby village called Alter do Chao. That would be the Center for the Preservation of Indigenous Art Cultures and Sciences, which isn't nearly ... (more)