Searching for Diamonds

On Saturday the 23rd I left Salvador and got a bus to Lençóis, a 6.5 hour drive west of the city. The drive to Lençóis was a bit different - I had never seen scenery like this in Brazil. It was during the blazing heat of midday that we passed through other towns in this agriculture interior that seemed desolate, poor and ugly. The vegetation around wasn't very green - just scrub and cacti, with the odd hill in the distance.


Lençóis was a different matter though. It is an old diamond mining town of 9000 people that now relies on tourism. The nearby Parque nacional da Chapada Diamantina is the drawcard. The town itself is really pretty but I walked past the centre to the outskirst where the Pousada dos duendes sat above the town in the backstreets. Two german guys from the same bus were also walking that direction and I chatted with them before/after I checked in. I spent the afternoon reading in a hammock. The hostel was lovely and I later discovered to be very social, with mostly solo travellers staying there, so everyone was more than happy to meet new people. Open group dinners were served and I met lots of new people.

Al, who is a hairdresser from London gave me a haircut after dinner. To get a drunk Londoner to cut your hair at 10pm in a hostel may seem like a bad idea, but my hair turned out great (he is a great hairdresser), and was now short enough so that I was ready for the HOT and sweaty hike the next day. I headed out that night with three guys I met at the hostel. The town has a really great nightlife and some great resteraunts, which surprised me for such a small town.

The next morning I went on a 14km hike in the Park. I was with a great bunch of people - there was six of us. Sally (from England), Kevin (from New York), Manuel (from Spain and dating) Maia (from France) and Raphael (from Poland). Our Brazilian guide was basically guidig us up the nearest river towards the Cachoeira do Sossego (Tranquility Waterfall). We stopped at Ribeirão de Cima (a watering hole) to swim and at Ribeirão do Meio on the way back. The terrain was rocky and uphill for many parts, but I enjoyed it. The Tranquility waterfall was amazing and we spent a lot of time there swimming, eating our lunch and jumping off the ledges. The Ribeirão do Meio is a natural waterslide, a smooth granite slope with slight waterfall that you can slide down on your bum if you don't mind the bruises in the morning. It is where the locals cool down from the oppressing heat and so they have set up a bar.

Went out that night with my new hiking friends for a dinner and drinks in town. It was the best night I had in Lençóis. I spent the rest of my time in the town just relaxing and shopping. Everything up in the north-east has a lethergy to it, probably because of the heat. Took a bus back to Salvador later and caught a taxi from there to the airport with a new Israeli friend I made on the bus. I arrived back in São Paulo at about 3am, and Vanessa picked me up at the airport. On the way back to her home we stopped at a fruit stand (yes, at 3am, there is a fruit stand open) and the vendor was chuffed to think he was serving an australian - his business had become posh - he said.

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