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Published: March 17th 2010
Hello all, It's Tal again.
We left Porto Seguro (after a few days in Trancoso), and arrived at Salvador de Bahia at 0630 only to find out that we have a bus to
Lencois in less than 20 min. Great Connection! A "short" drive of 6 hours (after 12 hrs night drive..) and we are at Lencois.
Lençóis is a small city in the state of Bahia in Brazil, with only 9000 inhabitants. The town has a well-preserved colonial atmosphere, laid back people and a charming location amidst hills and tropical forest. Lencois is the starting point for treks into
Chapada Diamantina, the most famous National Park of Brazil. “Chapada” is a Brazilian word that means a region of steep cliffs, usually at the edge of a plateau. “Diamantina” refers to the diamonds found there in the mid 1800s. Since the Park's inauguration, it is forbidden to mine gems or diamonds and so the town's population declined and its glory has been deteriorated. Still, it preserves its nice colorful houses, charming restaurants with great food and nice cobbled streets and alleys we explored each night while staying there.
It took me awhile (again) to find a nice
Marmoset Mokey
Chapada Diamantina, Brasilpousada for the 7 of us, but this time it was done with “style”, since one of the local tour agencies (later we learnt that there are 22 in town...), sent a representative to welcome the tourist arriving on the bus - like us, offering them hotels, pousadas and tours for their staying in Lencois. Usually we prefer to evade these touts but this time I was too tired to get away, plus this guy had a car with AC. Sorry, Couldn't resist that, when its 35 degrees and 80% humidity... Well the guy had lots of patience for me, nothing did not seem quite perfect for us but he kept taking me to all the budget pousadas he knew without hesitating.
At last, I picked the first one he showed me, as it had the best combo of price, amenities and location. We settled in the pousada, while Lilach went to town to check the activities for tomorrow.
This small town is another good example how Ex-Israelis “conquered” South America, as we found in this little and remote town an Israeli (Ofer) that operates a tour agency and lives here already 2 yrs. The secret - 25
yrs ago he was traveling in Brazil, and here, in lencois, he met his future wife, a local girl from Lencois, a sister of the owner of the pousada we are staying at... Yes, ther are 21 more agencies to choose from, but we admit, it is very convenient to converse in Hebrew with the tour operator, and complain (only when necessary....) in Hebrew. After all, the prices are similar at all agencies and once we choose the Israeli operator - like we did several times in this trip, the total package is a bit cheaper. Ofer appeared to be very kind, knowledgeable and most important - very helpful (read later on that).
After an hour, Lilach returned with a wide veriety of tours available in the park, anything between a 1/2 hour trek to a nearby set of natural pools up to a 5 day trek in the park. We limited ourselves to 4 options that would be doable also by Lilach's parents, and decided to shop around at the afternoon.
Meanwhile, we put our bathing suits on and hopped to the close-by trail that leads out of town, to a set of natural pools, carved in
A Shachar Monkey
Shachar Hanging over the water pinky rocks, and a natural rock slide with running water of the local river. We arrived there in 20 min, and could hear the noisy locals playing and jumping into the water. That was so refreshing after the 20 hrs ride we had before. We let our bodies dip in the not so cold water, swim with the cheering kids, and let ourselves be amazed with this magnificent location. I remind you, only 20 min. from our pousada... Sun is setting. Time to leave this lovely setting and return to town. Our bellies starting to demand their share... Quick baths, and we are heading into town, looking for the restaurant recommended by Ofer. A few minutes later, we are placing ourselves in a strange location - in the middle of a cobbled stone alley, all the chairs are metal made and all unstably set on the ground, leaning towards the steep alley... We are not sure about the location but the food... oh the food.. large dish (for 3 persons) of tasty chinese style rice with mushrooms, cashew nuts and beef cuts, another huge dish with Parmesan cheese topped on a delicate poultry steak accompanied with a rich veggie salad,
beans (national supplement here...), rice and yucca flour to top on, all accompanied with Capirinha with ginger and honey, frozen beer, and freshly made tropical juices (caja, acerola, mango and goiaba to name only few..).
At the end of our "feast”, Ofer arrives with his wife, and we set the price for the next day's package. We returned to our pousada, buying a few munchies for tomorrow and enjoying the young - a bit freak - atmosphere of Lencois at night time.
0730 sharp and we are already in the breakfast porch, facing the tropical forest on the edge of town. Colibris are hovering at sight, chirping and singing birds are heard all around us, and we are to discover probably one of the best breakfast buffets served in Brazil. Honestly. Fresh strong coffee and tea, pancakes with honey, freshly baked buns with butter, sweet pastries with cinnamon, mini-cutlets of meat, mini-donuts, coconut cake, chocolate cake and fried bananas. Heaven is here.
At 0830 our guide, Ari, is welcoming us at the pousada, and we are entering the van, where we meet a couple of guys from England (one actually lives in China), a girl from the
Netherlands, another girl from England and... of course, 2 girls from Israel. Our first spot within the park is the Mucugezinho River (Sorry, not responsible for the names..). As we starting to descend from the main road towards the river, we encountered one of the sweetest creatures in the world - a group of
marmoset monkeys, not bigger than a doll, cute funky face, and a strange appearance like gizmos... Take a look in the photo and you'll understand...
A short 1 hour walk takes us to the river, where we bath in the cold black water of the natural pool. Massage ourselves under the powerful waterfall and swim around with the kids. Definitely, Lilach's parents are VERY happy to unite with us, although the conditions are not ideal for them (Heat, humidity, long walks, long bus rides etc.)... I hope to myself we are not torturing them and we really tried hard to pick the easiest possible tours available in town. I hope they enjoy it.
Later that day, we visited a not so well preserved cave, but we loved the idea of the guide to sit in one of the cave's chambers in total and complete
darkness, and listen to the sound of.. nothing. A complete silence. A nice experience, although we worked hard to hush Shachar... As we marched out of the cave, a tropical rain started to pour down. We waited and waited and nothing happened - so Ari, the guide, decided to go on to our next stop.
Soon we reach another cave, this time we are not entering since it can be crossed to its other side only by snorkeling. We decided - sensing there is nothing to see underwater (which proved right), to stay by the clear - amazing blue water and enjoy the shade for half an hour, then we moved to the river bed for another quick dip and a cool snorkeling among sweet water fish. But the day is not finished. The national park's highlight of the day is the Pao Inacio Mirador (viewpoint). A 20 km ride and we reach the beginning of the trail, just about closing time. Liora and Herzel (Lilach's prents) are tired and so we leave them behind in the van. We make sure with Shachar that he is apt to hike with us - and after his approval, we start to
run up the hill, before sun sets down. We reach the 600m peak within a 20 minutes hike and enjoy a very unique viewpoint - the strange looking hills all around us, the peak of the hill we are standing is full with special flowers and plants, cacti and orchids among which, and the sun set - oh, it was so beautiful! Someone is drumming in the distant, and the feeling is really special up there. I take every possible photo - the location is so perfect.
End of the day, we return to our pousada and plan the next day. A short consult with Ofer and we choose the
Marimbus Tour: a dug-out canoe sailing amidst water plantation, combined with the
Roncador river and … yes .. again... waterfalls and natural pools. (Chapada Diamantina apparently has a lot to offer). We ask Ofer that this time we'll depart at 0900 so we have enough time to indulge on our breakfast.. He consents and we go happily in search of this evening's dinner. Nitzan just tells me that I'm writing too much about food so I won't tell you about the great dinner we had but rather skip to
Orchid flower
Chapdata Diamantina, Brasil the special day we had.
Well, we had this time a 4*4 vehicle, since the only road to the starting point was a poor bumpy dirt road. After an hour and a half, we reached a very poor village; we picked the rowers and our life-jackets, and in 10 minutes or so, we were accommodated in our dug-out canoe. I sat with Nitzan in one canoe together with 2 other Brazilians and Lilach and the boys with her parents in the 2nd canoe. Here we start. A peaceful rowing takes us into the canals of this vast waterways of Marimbus. Palm trees all around. Lush green tropical vegetation covering the river-beds, herons and egrets are preying for fish, a sweet water turtle is drying on a dried trunk partially sunk in the water, and above all, peacful and relaxed rower behind us, pointing at water lilies and birds, and do not talk as much as other guides tend to... We soon arrive a dense marsh vegetation, covering the surface of the water as far as the eye can see, leaving only very narrow waterways for the canoes. When we looked at Lilach's canoe at this moment, it looked as
they are all sitting and floating on water, as their canoe couldn't be seen under the vegetation. We sailed for almost 2 hours, the sun did not have mercy but still, we enjpyed this unusual habitat and different scenery. We arrived to a shallow water, the rower stop, and be boarding down with our stuff, heading to a near by shelter, to eat our pre-made lunch. We first have to cross on foot the river, small islets of sands, walk in the forest for another 45 minutes, so I think we earned our lunch justly...
After finishing our sandwiches and cold coke, we are ready for another short walk to
Roncador River. The trail goes up the hill from the old shelter we were eating lunch, and we are ascending up in no more than 30 min. We reach a wonderful river with strange pink and gray rock formations, while the water are completely … yellow! Ari, our guide, explains that the pink color is due to minerals and copper found in the rocks and the yellow color of the water is due to the organic sediments it carries along its route. Thus we found ourselves in a strange
location - Mellow yellow water streaming on deep pink rocks and into deep natural pools, waterfalls from anywhere gushing noisily, and there is no one around us. Truly spectacular. We swim and jump and splash water on each other, and then jump from 4m high cliff into the deep waters. When we got tired, we let ourselves under the gushing waters of the nearest waterfall, and let our muscles relax before we return to Lencois. At this point, Ari is calling us out, and we reluctantly have to get out from this magical place. We return to the canoes, and start the whole way back, only this time it is an up-stream journey. Since it is much harder to row up-stream, I find myself taking the row and share the experience of rowing in the marshes, trying to keep the pace with the “professional” rower behind me... Sun is setting. The marshes are so peaceful now. Without the scorching sun above, it so much nicer and cool. Herons are flying above, the mountains look blue at distant, and the water lilies are starting to close. All are tired but we still have an hour to row... At last, we arrive
to the pier we left in the morning, and so we board the 4*4 vehicle that is already awaits us. 3rd day is over.
The next day started with a disastrous news, Lilach's beloved grandma, Savta Tova, passed away at the age of 96. We were all so sad, so moved, and yet, we had to plan the return of Lilach's parents for the funeral in Israel. We spent a few hours on flight arrangements from Salvador to Sao Paulo and on to Tel Aviv, packed everything together and tried to comfort Lilach and her Parents. It was such a sad morning also for the kids. But this is life. We tried to think she had good and full life after all, and since she only suffered in recent years, it is better that way for her. May she rest in peace.
At the afternoon, we left Lilach's parents to their own in the pousada, and as they asked us not to change plans - we went only us with the kids to a nearby natural pools (yes, again..), ate our sandwiches by the water, and as it started to heavily rain, we returned after only an hour.
When we reached the town again, we got a lift from one of the brothers of the guides from the tour agency - whom we did not even knew... He got out from his house, with his baby in his hands, open the doors for us, and took us all the way to the main plaza. So kind! We met again with Lilach's parents, who looked pretty calm but of course, very sad. We arranged for the night bus back to Salvador and after dinner, Ofer (the Israeli tour agent) - who heard what happened, helped us with a ride with all our luggage to the small bus station, although he really didn't have to. The bus arrived on time, and we all baorded the bus, knowing these are the last hours with Lilach's Parents. We had such a good time with them, we enjoyed walking and talking and seeing them, such a pity they have to cut their trip.
At 0430 in the morning we arrive to a city called Feira de Santana, there we got off the bus - kids are sleeping on our laps, saying a sad goodbye to Lilach's parents, and waiting for the 0530
bus to our next destination:
The Island of Tinhare, beaches of Morro de Sao Paolo. Lilach's parents stayed on the bus all the way to Salvador, where they would catch their first flight on the long way back to Israel.
We miss you all,
Tal
To view the entire gallery of Lencois and Chapada Diamantina N.P., click the link below:
Lencois Photos
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רעיה
non-member comment
beautifull wiews- beautifull my familly!!!
וכשתחזרו לארץ -תוכלו לראות בבריכה שבחצר שלי פרחי ביצה זהים לאלה שבצילומים שלכם!! !!! אכן נופים מדהימים, אתם נראים מאושרים ,כי לבטח נפלא מבלים