Maria Gorda, the Baobab of Paquetá
disputed, likely centuries oldBaobabpin approximate
Which one is it? Ten metres round on the Praia dos Tamoios beachfront, with a sign at its foot promising luck to whoever kisses it. A younger baobab elsewhere on the island is a different tree.
The sign in front of this baobab makes an offer: eternal luck to whoever kisses and respects me, and seven years of bad luck for every unkindness done to me. Islanders take it seriously enough to embrace the trunk, which is ten metres round. Maria Gorda, Fat Mary, is the main reason a good number of people get on the ferry to Paquetá at all. She is listed individually by the state heritage institute, and she was also one of ten trees on the island landmarked together by the city back in 1967. Her age is a mess. One account has her planted in 1627 by early colonisers who brought the seed from the African savanna. Another, which we could not read directly, claims a baobab arrived from Manaus in 1907 and took the name then. Almost three centuries separate those two, so the band here is left wide rather than picking a side. Local tradition ties her origin to the death of an enslaved woman, Maria Apolinária, said to have vowed to leave a mark of African culture on the island. That is oral history rather than record, and it is told here as such. She was alive and well in January 2025. A resident of sixty-four years told a reporter there had been no vandalism lately, and that she had thrown three seedlings, all replanted elsewhere on Paquetá.
The button above opens directions in your maps app. Only reachable by ferry from Praça XV in central Rio: the regular CCR Barcas boat takes about 60-70 minutes each way, with a faster catamaran service running some crossings closer to 30-40 minutes; this is a boat trip, not a short hop, and should be planned as its own outing rather than a quick add-on to a mainland walk
The pin marks the right spot roughly, not the tree itself. It stands here, but we have not confirmed the precise position on the ground yet. Know exactly where it is?
- Species
- Baobab (Adansonia sp.)
- Age estimate
- disputed, likely centuries old
- Location
- Praia dos Tamoios, near the corner of Ladeira do Vicente, Ilha de Paquetá, Rio de Janeiro (Ilha de Paquetá)
- Access
- Free, standing on the public beachfront street of Praia dos Tamoios; reachable at any time
- Getting there
- Only reachable by ferry from Praça XV in central Rio: the regular CCR Barcas boat takes about 60-70 minutes each way, with a faster catamaran service running some crossings closer to 30-40 minutes; this is a boat trip, not a short hop, and should be planned as its own outing rather than a quick add-on to a mainland walk
Trees nearby
Ticking this one off, walks past several more, and your collection growing city by city: that is the Ancient Trees app.
Get the appThis page was researched from a distance. If you know this tree, you know things we do not: the species, the age, the size, whether the photo shows the right tree, or that it is gone. Every field on this page can be corrected.
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