The photographer from Rio de Janeiro Henrique has been living in the four hundred years old city of Penedo, in Alagoas, for two years taking pictures of the São Francisco River for his book. His girlfriend Celeste decides to make an unexpected visit to him. When she arrives in Penedo, she is informed that he is traveling along the river. Celeste hires the oarsman Abel, a man that talks with his canoe Sidó, to take her to Henrique. In their journey, they are informed that the boat where Henrique was traveling sank, and he might have survived in a place called Rodeador. The group joins to Henrique's friends Olavo and Zé da Carranca and navigates down the river to the town of Saúde, in Sergipe, ending their quest in Bom Jesus da Lapa, in Bahia. Meanwhile, Celeste faces and discovers Brazilian culture and traditions unknown to her.