Novo Airão

The lower Rio Negro around Novo Airão was home to Indigenous peoples including the Waimiri-Atroari, Crichanã, Carabinari and Jauaperi. In 1668 Jesuits founded a settlement named Santo Elias de Jaú at the mouth of the Jaú River, believed to be one of the first Portuguese settlements in the Amazon. In 1759 it was raised to a town and named Airão by Joaquim de Melo Póvoas, the first governor of the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro.

Old Airão grew into a medium-sized settlement on the riverbank, but it later declined; its district was absorbed into Manaus, and after its dissolution in 1938 the name passed to Novo Airão, New Airão, downstream. The old town, now called Velho Airão, is almost uninhabited and lies inside a state park, a destination for boat trips from the new town.

The 20th century made the area a centre of conservation. Anavilhanas began as an ecological station in 1981 and became a national park, and Jaú National Park was later joined by Anavilhanas and the reserves of Mamirauá and Amanã to form the Central Amazon Conservation Complex, a World Heritage Site. Much of the municipality now lies inside protected areas, which have shaped the town's turn to tourism.

Craft is the town's cultural signature. Novo Airão's work in wood and natural fibres is known for its quality, and the town has craft centres specialising in wood and recycled paper, in straw and in Indigenous goods; the best known is the foundation run by Almerinda Malaquias, which teaches local people the craft.

The church calendar and the river shape the year. The town celebrates São Sebastião in January and its patron, Santo Ângelo, in May, holds a folklore festival in July, and in October an eco-festival named after the Amazonian manatee carries an environmental message.

The pink river dolphins are at the centre of the town's tourism. Contact with them at the town's beach is its main attraction, and many visitors come to feed or swim with them. Boatmen, guides and craft makers are a familiar part of the working town. Visitors also come to see the islands of Anavilhanas and the river communities around them, and the town's craft can be bought at the association's headquarters or in shops around the town.

The municipality had about 20,400 people in 2021, by the estimate of the Brazilian statistics institute IBGE, the smallest population in its microregion. Its territory is vast — about 37,800 square kilometres, bordering the state of Roraima — and most of it is forest, much of it protected.

Tourism is an important source of income: visitors come to reach the islands and the national parks, to visit Indigenous and river communities and to see the dolphins, and guesthouses, lodges and boatmen depend on them. The town is also known for its crafts and its boatbuilding. Because bus and boat times make a day trip from Manaus difficult, most visitors stay overnight.

The river sets the rhythm of the year. From August the water drops quickly, beaches appear from September, and aquatic animals such as dolphins, caimans and giant otters are seen more often; in the high-water months the forest floods and boats can move among the trees.

Food here is the food of the Rio Negro. Fish comes first — tambaqui grilled over charcoal, and other river fish fried or stewed — eaten with rice, beans and farinha, the coarse manioc flour that accompanies almost every meal in the Amazon.

Many meals are simple and home-style, served in small restaurants near the river and the square. Regional fruit such as cupuaçu and açaí appears in juices and desserts, and guaraná is the everyday soft drink. Visitors heading into Jaú National Park are advised to bring supplies from Manaus or Novo Airão, since there is little to buy upriver.

As elsewhere on the Rio Negro, tacacá — a hot, sour soup of tucupi broth from manioc, tapioca gum, dried shrimp and jambu leaves that numb the lips — is a late-afternoon snack, and manioc in its many forms, from farinha to tapioca pancakes, is the staple behind every plate. Fish is bought at the waterfront when the boats come in.