Blogs from Barreirinhas, Maranhão, Brazil, South America - page 2

After a lot of thinking in Belem we changed our plan slightly and headed for Sao Luis on a night bus after visiting another zoo type place in the middle of the city and milling about the markets. We arrived in Sao Luis at about 6.30 a.m. and hunted for a cheap hostel only to return to the first one we had been to after an hour and a half! It was a fairly attractive place (in comparison to the bigger cities) and had some pretty impressive beaches just a bus ride away that we visited. We didn´t hang around for long as we didn´t fancy staying in a big city and got a bus out to Barreirinhas first thing the following morning, a small town used as an access point to Lencois National Park. We ... read more

Schon mal kristallklare und gruenblaue Naturwasserbecken inmitten von weissen bis zu 40 Meter hohen Sandduenen gesehen? Wenn nicht, dann schaut euch die Bilder vom "Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses" an. Die einzige "Wueste" der Welt mit hunderten von Seen. Die Landschaft ist unglaublich schoen und scheint endlos zu sein. Die weissen und weich geschwungenen Duenen haben dem Park seinen Namen gegeben: Lençóis, auf portugiesisch die Bettlaken, dos Maranhenses. Der Kontrast zwischen dem Wasser und den weissen Duenen macht die Szenerie einzigartig. Und es wirkt ein wenig skuril bei grosser Hitze und umgeben von Sand, Sand und nochmals Sand in wunderschoenem Suesswasser zu baden. Mit Sicherheit ein unerreichbarer Traum fuer die meisten Wuestenbewohner dieser Welt. Die oekologische Beschaffenheit des Gebietes, der Regen und der Wind haben dieses kleine Paradies entstehen lassen. Je... read more

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in the north of Brazil - tha park is close to São Luis whose 155 km2 is an ecosystem of sand dunes, rivers, natural and seawater lakes and mangroves. The high rainfall wet season fills the sand dunes creating a system of fresh water lakes the most spectacular being Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake) and Lagoa Bonita (Beautiful Lake). We swam in a few!!!!! The way to get there was a nightmare though, 5 hours on a local 4x4 truck with other 15 people (space as much as on the tube in a rush hour) and a pig!!! we had to get from Tutoia to Barreirinhas, from where we could reach the park. what an experience! I will try to put some photos later.......... ... read more

When we last left our caped crusaders they were trapped inside a car heading towards the town of Barreirinhas. Will they make it there today? Will they survive this drawn out car ride? Will they be able to experience life outside of the vehicle? Read on for more of their journey to answer these questions… January 18, 2006 Day 4 - Middle of Nowhere Land We had about 400 km to go today so we knew we would make it to Barreirinhas before supper time. We only got lost a couple times, but the driving went by fast, and we were all very excited to finally make it to our destination. Heather and I didn’t know what to expect when we pulled in since we didn’t do any research on the town, but after being in ... read more