The south coast of São Paulo state is a world away from the megacity a few hours to the north. Here, around the old town of Iguape, the Ribeira de Iguape river reaches the sea through a maze of channels, mangroves, islands and lagoons, backed by the forested slopes of the Serra do Mar. The Chauás Ecological Station protects a piece of lowland Atlantic Forest and restinga, the sandy coastal vegetation, near Iguape, and it is part of the Atlantic Forest Southeast Reserves, listed by UNESCO in 1999. The Atlantic Forest once covered much of the Brazilian coast; today only a fraction remains, and this region holds some of the largest continuous stretches.
Wildlife is abundant, though often hidden. The red-tailed parrot, endemic to this stretch of coast, nests on islands and in the forest, and herons, egrets, spoonbills and scarlet ibises feed in the mangroves. Dolphins swim in the estuary, and the forest is home to monkeys, sloths and a variety of reptiles. The station itself is mainly for research and conservation rather than tourism.
Iguape is one of the oldest towns in Brazil, founded in the sixteenth century, and its colonial centre, with whitewashed houses and the basilica of Bom Jesus de Iguape, is a pleasant place to walk. Every August, pilgrims come in huge numbers for the festival of Bom Jesus. In the nineteenth century, a canal called the Valo Grande was dug to link the river with the port, but it eroded and widened dramatically, diverting much of the river's flow and silting up the port, a cautionary tale of engineering gone wrong.
The roads here are quiet, mostly paved but sometimes potholed, running through banana plantations, forest and small villages. From Iguape a bridge leads to Ilha Comprida, a long barrier island with wide sandy beaches. The main road from the BR-116, the highway between São Paulo and Curitiba, passes through Pariquera-Açu and Jacupiranga before reaching the coast. Iguape, a town of some twenty-four thousand, can refuel you and feed you, with places serving fresh fish and seafood, including the local manjuba, a small fish fried crisp. The climate is warm and humid year round, with heavy summer rain, so expect wet roads and pack accordingly.