The Lençóis Maranhenses

After São Luis we bussed out to the Lençois Marahenses National Park, which is a vast swath of sand dunes. Interestingly enough, this patch of land was once connected to what is now the Sahara desert, before the continents of Africa and South America split.
The first day we took a 4x4 out to Esperanza Laguna, and traipsed around the dunes before watching the sunset.












We first took a ferry across the Preguica river





Esperanza Laguna- an oasis in the middle of the sand dunes


































































I am so unathletic, I can't even get a jumping picture right






Check out that fanny pack











































Driving back in the fading light, bouncing through the sand. I can't believe Jared even got this picture, it was so bumpy.
The next day we took a boat trip up the Preguica River to some remote communities, and of course- more sand!


















A couple of monkeys sitting at the table












Our lunch spot at Carubé







The dreads are slowly starting to tighten up


















View from the top of the lighthouse

After this we bussed back to São Luis, and flew to Recife- also on the coast.













It was really cool- we got to see the park from the air, it really is just a random splotch of sand in the middle of bush.

Until Next Time!

São Luis

Hi everyone,
Last place we left you we were flying over the Amazon from Tabatinga to São Luis, a city on the northeast coast of Brazil. This city is known for beautiful colonial architecture, reggae, and to me it just had a lot of soul. There were a lot of beautiful old colonial buildings in the Old Town, many covered in azulejos, which are Portuguese tiles. Not only are they a great defence against the constant humidity, they make the buildings look so nice.



See how it's actually covered in tiles?















And the cobblestone streets everywhere! too much cuteness!















Igreja da Sé



Jared admiring the church while pulling on his beard to make it grow faster. It's getting pretty epic.








A very intricately designed sidewalk, made with small stones. And Jared looking like a complete stud.
























Plus lots of cool street art

There was live music two of the nights we were in São Luis, and lots of people out dancing and partying. There are lots of parties in all the bigger cities of Brazil (especially on the weekends) leading up to Carnival, which is getting me very excited for the big cheese in Rio.





The first night seemed good.....




Then the second night totally blew us away!
We also stayed in a cool hostel while there. It was built in the early 1800's for a wealthy family. It wasn't all rosy, as it was a former brothel at one time and had slave's quarters on the lower level






The kitchen on the left and the hallway to the upstairs rooms



View from the street



Jared enjoying the pool

Ok... so at this point I continued on the Lençois Marahenses, a national park we visited, but the blog failed to upload once. So I am just going to post this guy and do the sand dunes of Lençois next.....