Lost in the sand dunes of Brazil

Posted on 24 May 2010

After picking up our buoy in Fortaleza we headed for backpackers’ mecca Jericoaracoa, full of dune buggies, kite boarders and swanky looking pousadas (hostels). We availed ourselves of none of these and instead broke our camping duck for Brazil by setting up our tents in a hostel’s courtyard.

Our sleep was persistently interrupted by a whining dog and some musical, drunk Frenchmen. Will solved both problems by letting the dog off her rope, she immediately went to the bbq and stole the Frenchmen’s steak who went to bed angrily without any supper.

Jericoaracoa can only be reached by driving along a beach and we fancied ourselves as pretty intrepid however this was nothing compared to what was to come.

After a day on the beach our next destination was Cabure a tiny place on a sand bar that juts out into the Atlantic. Access was via a mountain range of sand dunes and the beach – we got there by following the only other car we could see.

The next day was a marathon of sand driving to the Lencois Maranhenses National Park – this time with a guide offering a variety of services including directions in Portuguese and prostitute procurement. Driving in deep sand feels a bit like being in a Mario game with lots of skidding around corners. It was well worth it because we arrived at the most spectacular sand dune landscape. Between the dunes blue lakes had formed because of the rain and we swam with millions of tiny gold fish nibbling at our toes.

We will put up many more pictures on our website shortly. But here is one to make you jealous!






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