In the Amazon, painted wood plank houses are typical, especially in rural areas and residential parts of towns. Much more scenic than concrete or bare brick. It reminds me of the Caribbean islands.
In Sao Gabriel, the streets behind the beach rise up a forested hill which has a small river and rows of painted houses with washing lines, satellite dishes, stands of açaí palm and hibiscus hedges in their plots of land. Doors and windows are open and daily scenes of family life unfold as you walk down the street- parents are on porches, sitting in deck chairs, grilling skewered meats over charcoal embers, or inside cooking and watching TV; kids are generally outside, playing on the steps of the houses, leaning out of windows or playing games on the street.
