seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi gente! Tudo bem?

After a quick 2 days in Sao Luis, I headed to the Lencois Maranhenses to glimpse some truly stunning nature of a new type- dunes. These are no ordinary dunes, but I’ll get there. The Lencois Maranhenses National Park is huge at 380,000 acres with 43 miles of coastline with the Atlantic Ocean. I visited during the most optimal season, right after the rainy season, but technically in the dry season. You want to visit then so that the lagoons are filled with water.

Most tours take off from Barreirinhas, and mine was no exception. We toured the Lagoa Bonita, and it was quite a bumpy ride to get there. We were in an open top Jeep and drove for about an hour and a half through dunes mixed with forrest to get to the stairs to the site. Also, all the truck had to take a ferry across a river, which just added to the adventure. Once I finally got there, hiked up the steps and crested the hill, it took my breath away.

The picture really doesn’t do it justice, because the dunes stretch for farther than the eye can see. Our guide walked us to 3 different lagoons, and I had a great time swimming in them- the water was a great temperature, and I love water.

I was on a tour with all couples roughly my age. Nothing quite helps me stare in the face of my singleness by being surrounded by affectionate Brazilian couples. They were all really nice, especially once they realized I speak a little Portuguese. It’s always fun when they are talking about you thinking you don’t know what they are saying and then you respond. They were saying nice things, but then they actually talked with me, which I appreciate.

My favorite part was watching the sunset. I couldn’t get a shot without any people… because there were hundreds there. The pictures are just a glimpse anyways, you must go if you want to see what I saw.

Back in Barreirinhas, I met 2 really nice girls in my hostel room. They invited me to get dinner with them, and we ended up going to the local Festa Juninha event they had going on. It was kind of meh, especially after seeing a big one in Sao Luis, but it was very cool to make friends. I love traveling alone because you always meet people to do stuff with, and then you aren’t alone AND you make a friend. Win-win.

Moving to my next location required a boat. I was headed to Atins, and the first step to do this was take a boat. I continued with my tour company, and they brought us to 3 stops. The first was a mini dune but there was also a bar, souvenir shop, and monkeys.

These monkeys are very accustomed to tourists, and all they really want is food, which there are many signs saying not to give to them. I chilled in a hammock a little bit and got a kick out of the naughty monkeys trying to sneak into the “restaurant” area and being chased out by someone who works there. Silly monkeys, french fries are not for you!

This tour also included a stop to a lighthouse, and the guide said you “really have to go up, the view is incredible.” Well, he lied. I hiked up those (very hot) stairs to see a whole bunch of nothing. It was free, so you might as well, but don’t be expecting anything you’ve never seen before. All good, gotta give the tourists something to do, might as well be cardio. After our stop at the lighthouse, we made it to lunch! I got a single portion of this fish stew-esque food, and it was delicious. I focused on the fish and not on the rice so I could eat the most I could.

A speedboat took me to Atins, where I spent the rest of my vacation. It was a rough start in Atins… I booked a hostel called “Tikira Hostel” and DO NOT BOOK IT. (I linked it here because I wanted to show you that it didn’t look that bad in the pictures.) I had talked to them ahead of time to try and arrange transport to the hostel and they didn’t have any, but said it was only about an 8 minute walk. Okay, I thought, I can do that no problem. Well… an 8 minute walked turned out to be actually 40 minutes. Plus, Atins has no paved roads- everything is sand. As it turns out, I hate walking in sand. I hate walking in sand at 2 pm during the heat of the day while carrying my backpack, even if it is light. By the time I arrived, I was miserable, sweating, and ready for a shower. I couldn’t find the place because there were no signs. I walked into a restaurant and they said it was next door. I walked next door into the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever seen, greeted with a glass of ice water… only to be told that this was Jandaia, and not where I was looking for.

Sigh. So I go to this tiny place in between the two, the “lawn” was a patch of dirt, rickety stairs leading down to a one room place. It was empty, there was a guy on the porch and I said hello and asked if he knew how I could check in. He pointed to the lady inside, and I said hello again and she just pointed to a bed. This is not off to a great start. I go to use the bathroom, and there is no running water. I come out and pull up booking.com to see if there is something I can afford because NOPE. The guy comes back in and offers to give me the wifi… to the place next door because this place doesn’t have any. He offers advice to sleep on a top bunk close to the fan because it gets really hot at night. I’m at a crossroads here. All I want is a shower, and I’ve booked myself into a shithole. I can put up with a lot, but I decided to try and book somewhere else. Pousada Casa do Praia Atins came to my rescue. I didn’t have to walk very far from where I was, she had a room, and great reviews. SOLD.

Above is post-shower and hanging in a hammock in this pousadas hammock area. I chilled and waited out the heat of the day here because I needed a mental break. After the rough start in Atins, it really turned around. I booked myself another tour of the Lencois for the next day (even though I didn’t necessarily want to because I had “already seen it”) and had already been in contact for something else too.

I treated myself to a cute Italian restaurant that had homemade pasta and to a glass of wine and prepared for the next day.

Atins is a very windy ocean city… which makes it the perfect place to kiteboard. So naturally, I signed up for a lesson! It turns out I signed up for a private lesson in English which I ended up being happy I did. I spent 2.5 hours with Atins Kiteboarding School. Their team did an awesome job! I don’t have any pictures to share because I was busy being a badass… er. Uh I mean crashing the kite back and forth into the sand. It’s actually kind of (read -> really) hard. I had a beginner kite, and my instructor was very patient with me. He also said that I wouldn’t be getting on the board because it can be very dangerous and you need at least 6 hours of instruction before you can even think about touching the board. I’m glad he set my expectations appropriately, because I definitely thought I’d be cutting the waves. I learned some fundamentals of how to control a kite surfing kite, but my favorite part was when I got to go into the water and act like superman with the kite. I essentially body surfed with the kite and that was really cool. The most advanced step I got to was rotating the board around my body to shift hands while in the water- but I ended up getting really frustrated and did not like that. Give me body surfing with a kite any day though! I recommend trying it, especially with that school I went with.

In the afternoon I set off on my second Lencois Maranheses tour. Mind. Blown. Even more than before. I am so glad I signed up for the tour because Atins is harder to get to, so naturally it is less crowded. My tour was me and one other couple, and the max amount of people we saw in various lagoons was like… 10. So allow me to quite writing and instead let the photos speak for themselves.

(I got a new phone and the photo taking setting is a little odd, and IDK how to get the blog to match well… so maybe click through them? Good luck.)

The Lencois Maranhenses are incredible. Otherworldly, and unlike anything I’ve seen before. It was magnificent to look around and have nothing at all in any direction. God created this beautiful natural wonder, and I am so lucky to have gotten to enjoy it. The crazy thing- I had never heard of this before I moved to Brazil. It’s not a hidden gem within Brazil, but it sure hadn’t made its way to me. 10/10 recommend- but choose your accommodation wisely.

Leaving you with this- maybe one of my new favorite photos. (Sadly, I just suffered a hair massacre, so I’m also looking longingly at my hair.)

Tchau for now!