Anchieta, Brasil
Shortly after dawn, the National Geographic Endeavour arrived off the small island of Anchieta. With sandy beaches fringed by palm trees, the initial impression is a tropical island paradise. But the island has a darker history, as we were about to find out.
The original inhabitants, a native group of Tupi Guarani, were displaced by the arrival of Europeans. The area then developed into a prosperous fishing community until 1904 when the island was purchased by the government to build a prison. The eight main cells each held 60 prisoners, with a further 15 solitary confinement cells. Operating from 1908 to 1914 and again from 1928 to 1955, the prison was used in the early 1930s to hold political prisoners when Brasil was under the dictatorship of Getulio Vargas.
In 1952, a rebellion by the prisoners resulted in the deaths of 15 guards and 115 prisoners escaped, although only three were never found. The prison was closed at the end of the trials of the prisoners involved in the rebellion. The island was then abandoned until 1977 when it was designated a state park. The island is now being allowed to revert to a natural state and forest is gradually becoming established in areas that were once cleared and used for agriculture.
As visitors to this tropical island paradise, we explored the remains of the prison, wandering through cells which no longer have doors, although the bars on the windows hint at their former use. Others opted to hike through the woods, laze on the beach (an option surely not available to inmates) or to kayak in the warm waters (an excellent chance to escape!). After returning to our ship, we once more headed south.
While we may find more paradises on this voyage, they will no longer be tropical. For today we are officially no longer in the tropics as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.
Shortly after dawn, the National Geographic Endeavour arrived off the small island of Anchieta. With sandy beaches fringed by palm trees, the initial impression is a tropical island paradise. But the island has a darker history, as we were about to find out.
The original inhabitants, a native group of Tupi Guarani, were displaced by the arrival of Europeans. The area then developed into a prosperous fishing community until 1904 when the island was purchased by the government to build a prison. The eight main cells each held 60 prisoners, with a further 15 solitary confinement cells. Operating from 1908 to 1914 and again from 1928 to 1955, the prison was used in the early 1930s to hold political prisoners when Brasil was under the dictatorship of Getulio Vargas.
In 1952, a rebellion by the prisoners resulted in the deaths of 15 guards and 115 prisoners escaped, although only three were never found. The prison was closed at the end of the trials of the prisoners involved in the rebellion. The island was then abandoned until 1977 when it was designated a state park. The island is now being allowed to revert to a natural state and forest is gradually becoming established in areas that were once cleared and used for agriculture.
As visitors to this tropical island paradise, we explored the remains of the prison, wandering through cells which no longer have doors, although the bars on the windows hint at their former use. Others opted to hike through the woods, laze on the beach (an option surely not available to inmates) or to kayak in the warm waters (an excellent chance to escape!). After returning to our ship, we once more headed south.
While we may find more paradises on this voyage, they will no longer be tropical. For today we are officially no longer in the tropics as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn.
