Brazil - São Luís & Lençóis Maranhenses - Travel Story
São Luís & Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil, Travel Story
Getting Settled in Sao Luis
Sao Luis, the capital of the Brazilian state of Maranhao in the North, was our first stop en route to the beautiful Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. We arrived at Pousada Portas da Amazonia, our seemingly small hotel, and waited while the bellboy was called to help take us to our room. The hotel was rustic yet charming and really quite different. The bellboy was not asked to take us to our room simply to help us carry our bags – he really had to help us find our room. We walked through the maze that was our hotel wondering how we were ever going to find our way out on our own. We found out after that the owner had purchased two buildings side by side and turned it into one large hotel.
Once we were settled in the room I went into the bathroom, ready to jump in the hot shower only to find the exact same set up as the one in our previous hotel. Seeing this, I knew that there must be a way to get hot water and sure enough, after some fiddling around we finally figured out how to turn on the hot water option.
Once we were clean, we made our way out of our hotel maze and in to the city centre to find some food. The main attraction here is the historical centre, with its rustic, colourful buildings and cobblestone streets. It’s a rather charming area, much quieter than Salvador.
First Taste of Açaí & Wandering Around Town
We found a colourful little restaurant (Restaurante Antigamente) with fresh fruit juices and some local foods. Before leaving for Brazil we had heard about a super berry called Açaí, which we were anxious to try. Thomas ordered the Açaí shake, which looked more like a large glass of thick mud. It wasn’t pretty, but was actually quite good! From that glass on all Thomas had the entire trip was Açaí shakes.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the area, taking pictures of the amazing architecture and shopping around for local art. Sao Luis is known for their pottery, so we took a look at a few little shops and purchased some very colourful and whimsical pieces. We headed back to the centre for dinner where there was live music playing outside in the square and the restaurants lined the cobblestone streets with chairs and tables. After dinner we headed back to our hotel where the dark hallways were lit up only by small playful floor lamps made of twigs and bleached leather. The dark hardwood, white walls, and small, hand made tepee style lamps lighting our way through the maze made me feel like I was in a fairytale.
Visit to Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
The next day we were off to Barreirinhas, the gateway to Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. The trip, organized by our hotel, left Sao Luis at 5:30 AM and arrived at Barreirinhas around 9:00 AM. Barreirinhas was quite a bit more unrefined than the others we have been to so far. There was one main dirt road where all the tourist offices were and this was where we were left to wait for the 4x4 that would take us into the park. NOTE: remember to bring your swimming gear and lots of sunscreen. Once you are in the park you will have an opportunity to swim in the clear blue water which, trust me, you will really want to do to cool off from the heat. There is absolutely nothing there to cover you from the sun so bring a hat and make sure you continuously slather layers of sunscreen to keep from burning. Also be careful not to wander too far from the group. It can be quite easy to lose your sense of direction because everything looks the same and before you know it you could be lost.
Lençóis Maranhenses, or the “sheet of the Maranhao” was named so because of the fact that it looks like bed sheets. The ride into the park via our 4x4 jeep was exhilarating and getting a chance to see the beautiful countryside was a plus. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I had only seen pictures of this place, but after arriving at our drop off point and seeing the area in person, let me just say that pictures do not do this place justice! I had never seen anything so awe inspiring in my life. The powder white sand that spanned for miles, the clear turquoise lagoons in the divots of the soft sand, the bright blue sky above…it took my breath away. The best thing about this tour is that they only allow a certain number of jeeps in the park at one time so you feel as though you have the entire place to yourself. Our group walked over to a lagoon about 10 minutes into the park and settled in. Thomas and I were not told to bring our swimming gear, so while everyone else enjoyed some time in the nice cool water, we sat on the sand like a couple of rotisserie chickens. After a while we decided we might as well get some pictures of this amazing place so we ventured out on our own and did just that. At one point we had almost gotten lost because we were so captivated by the beauty that we did not remember how long we walked for or in what direction. Before we knew it we were in the middle of the dessert with no idea where our group was. We lucked out and did eventually run into our group again, but it was purely coincidental and we gave ourselves a little scare so it is something that visitors should keep in mind.
After everyone had taken in all the sun they could we headed back to Barreirinhas for lunch around 2:00 PM. We had a nice meal at a restaurant situated along the boardwalk. After our meal we walked around and visited all the little souvenir shops and left the area around 5:00 PM.
Our flight out of Sao Luis was at 4am, so instead of paying for accommodations for another night, we had the brilliant idea of just hanging out until it was time to go to the airport. This was quite possibly the most uncomfortable night of my life. After getting back from our trip to the desert we sat around, relaxed, used the internet at the hotel, then headed to the pizzeria next door for a late dinner. We had run out of things to do, so we decided to head to the airport early thinking that there would be seats for us to lie across. Please keep in mind, the airports in these parts are nothing like the large international airports that we are so accustomed to. When we got there we sat down on the plastic, cushion-less chairs with arm bars protruding out making it impossible to lie down. We had to wait about 5 hours for our flight to arrive and at about midnight I was exhausted, nauseous (from the exhaustion), and my head was pounding. It was tough, but at 4am we got on the plane and were on our way to Rio De Janeiro!
Barreirinhas & Lençóis Maranhenses Photo Gallery
