Sights in Rio Branco
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Museu da Borracha
Housed in a beautifully restored mansion, the Museu da Borracha has three small rooms with exhibits on the history of rubber-tapping. One room explains the extraction and processing of rubber, including the transition from using small axes (which killed the tree) to a tool called a cabrita (little goat), which only scrapes the surface. Other displays cover migration into Acre, the life and work of Chico Mendes and the Rural Workers Union, and relations with indigenous communities.
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Palacio Rio Branco
Acre’s first capital building, the imposing Palacio Rio Branco is now mostly a tourist attraction. A maze of interconnected rooms contain interesting and well-done displays on prehistoric artifacts, indigenous communities, Chico Mendes and the Acrean Revolution. Docents are available for free guided tours, though you’ll have to understand Portuguese. (Same goes for the all displays.)
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SESC
An example of Rio Branco’s unexpected hipness is the city’s SESC complex, which operates as much as a cultural center as a social-services office. It sponsors lectures, screens creative film cycles and festivals, even stages live performances, all open to the public, and most free or under R$10. Stop by for a schedule, or keep an eye out for fliers at the other sights around town.
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Mercado Velho
Not only a great place for a meal or that late-afternoon beer, Rio Branco’s refurbished riverside Mercado Velho is a favorite spot for city-sponsored cultural events, including live music, dance performances, poetry readings and comedy troupes, usually held evenings and weekends.
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Memorial dos Autonomistas
In its spiffy home just uphill from the Palacio Rio Branco, the Memorial dos Autonomistas has a permanent display on the history of Acre’s battle for statehood plus space for rotating art exhibits, typically paintings and sculptures by local artists.
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