After the USA game (I already have my patriotic outfit planned eee!!! Look for me on TV guys!!! hehe) we will enjoy Recife, the colonial town Olinda right next to it, and of course the famous northeastern festas juninas, festivities typical of the northeast for a few days before making our way down to Salvador for our other game. I AM SO EXCITED!!!
Anyways, I am getting way ahead of myself... I still need to tell you about the end of my summer break, when I explored the Lencois Maranhenses national park! It was such an adventure and simply a wonderful way to wrap up my summer with unique experiences before heading back to the grind in Rio.
Me and Kate trekking through Lencois Maranhenses park!
So. First things first. Getting there! Now the distance we covered to get from Jericoacoara to Barreirinhas, the starting point for exploring the parc, looks quite tiny on a map. In reality it is quite small, only about 380 kilometers. However, in practice, our voyage between the two places took about 24 hours in total and 5 different vehicles, with a stop at a sketchy motel for a couple hours rest in between...
Basically, because of the poor infrastructure and geography of the region, some portions of the trip were made in Toyota 4x4 trucks on sand, and these stretches took much longer than if we were driving on asphalt. First we were picked up at 6am at our hostel in Jeri by one of these toyotas, then we were driven accross the sand dunes surrounding Jeri, ferried accross a river, and drove a little more to the closest big city of Camocim. We got off the Toyota there then transferred to a bus that took us to a "bus stop" (it was literally someone's front yard, although the family was resourceful and turned their living room into a rest stop for travelers with soda and candy for sale) in a tiny town called Chaval. From there we transferred to a van that took us to Parnaiba, a city in the state of Piaui that is a starting point for visiting the delta region there. In Parnaiba, we arrived just in time (thank god for Brazilian time...we were technically late) for a bus that would take us to Paulino Neves. When we got on that bus, not only were we the only people on board, but half the windows were boarded up with actual wooden planks. It was an interesting (breezy!) ride to say the least, as at the next stop a flood of about 50 people got on board, enough to make it so that there was not a single seat left. Me and Kate were the only gringas of course. Once we finally got to Paulino Neves, at this point past sunset, the bus driver dropped us off at a very cheap pousada (that also doubled as the town's bus stop) that was a steal at 30 Rs (a little less than 15 dollars) for the night. But you get what you pay for I guess...there were tons of mosquitos, the shower had a cockroach in it, and the bathroom itself had no door except for a flimsy curtain.... (see picture above)
The famous Toyotas that took us through the dunes and are ubiquitious in Barreirinhas
Luckily we didn't have to stay there long, because at 4 (yes you read that right) AM we were to be picked up by a Toyota truck to go to Barreirinhas! The journey, through enormous sand dunes, into giant puddles, and weaving through wild cows, took about 2 hours in total and was mildly terrifying. It kept feeling like all of our stuff was going to fall into the giant puddles as we were all sitting in the bed of the truck with nothing attached to the truck itself. It didn't help that it was pitch black most of the way so I was doubly paranoid about hitting an animal.
Despite the long and tiring journey, pulling into Barreirinhas at sunrise was something I'll never forget. Whereas driving through the sand dunes at night felt like I was in the opening scene of Aladdin and I kept expecting a giant tiger head to form out of the sand, driving into Barreirinhas with the Sunrise behind us as a giant yellow orb peering up from behind scattered clouds was straight outta Lion King. No joke, the circle of life started playing in my head...it was EPIC!!!
We got to our hostel a little after 6, had a quick breakfast at 7 and then napped for a bit, but not too much because you can't rest when you only have two days of vacation left! With a little help from our trusty friend Coca Zero, we powered through our sleepiness to go on one of the classic tours of the park that includes a river crossing into the park, driving through the park on yet another Toyota and then hiking through the dunes where it gets too steep for the truck to drive. At the end of the hike is a refreshing dip in the lagoa do Peixe (fish lagoon) before we hiked back. Unfortunately we were visiting at a time when the "lencois" or narrow lagoons that form between the dunes and give the park its name were mostly dried out, but the landscape was still so visually stunning and serene that we had a wonderful time nonetheless. We also had fun acting like kids again and rolling down an entire huge sand dune and plopping into the water at the end. Never been so dizzy in my life...
On our last full day of vacation *sob* me and Kate did a river tour up the Rio Preguica (lazy river). It was super convenient because our hostel had a small private beach and dock area on the river from which the boat for the tour picked us up directly. Our first stop was a little shack with tons of monkeys that at first glance seem cute, but it didn't take long to realize these were the most aggressive, planet-of-the-apey, crazy monkeys that would come flying at at all the tourists brave enough to give them bananas. A kind Brazilian woman gave me the inside of her green coconut, but once I put it down on the table a monkey instantly jumped off a tree, onto the table and swooped it from me :(
Warning: monkeys appear cuter than they really are! This one was ready to pounce...
I was sooo glad to leave the crazy monkey area, and our next stop was beautiful anyway. There was a huge lighthouse made by the Brazilian marines that we walked to the top of for an awesome view of the park, the river,and the ocean too! Me and Kate treated ourselves to a local specialty, a caipirinha de caju or cashew caipirinha made from mashing the pulp of the cashew fruit (the bottom fleshy part of the fruit--the nut is only in the tiny top portion!) with sugar and cachaca. It was amazingly tasty, but would be very expensive in Rio though because all the fruit has to be imported by plane from the region near the park.
Our next and final stop was at another river beach area with restaurants that was really remote and just about 100 meters to the actual ocean. I got to swim in a river then take a dip in the ocean right after on a deserted beach---it was pretty surreal! We then had lunch with a group of Brazilian women who were excessively friendly and basically forced us to eat their food. One of the women liked me so much she even offered me a job to work at the Sao Luis (the capital of Maranhao) mayor's office, and she kept repeating how enchanted she was by me and Kate. It was pretty comical in fact, I'm not sure if it was her or the copious amounts of beer she was drinking talking...
Anyhow, those are some last snapshots of my summer break. I miss it already.... Maranhao is so different than Rio and it was so refreshing to see another side of Brazil! Until next time....
Beijos,
Marie
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