While it required a bit of time and effort to get to, we really wanted to see Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. We had seen photos of the endless white sand dunes scattered with blue green lakes and been amazed, so we wanted to see it first hand.

Barreirinhas is a town not far from the edge of the National Park. It isn't necessarily near the best parts of the park, but its the easiest place to get to from São Luís and the easiest access point for the dunes with the limited time we had.

We arrived in the early afternoon and after some effort locating our pousada of which there were 2 with the same name, we showered and ventured out for some lunch. At a decent river front restaurant we had a Caesar salad for 2 which wasn't too bad, then checked out the town river beach, a big sand dune next to the river that separates the main part of town from the rest of it.

After a wander, we went and found the tour company office that we wanted to use and booked in 2 tours, one to the National Park, and another boat tour along the River Preguiça to Caburé at the river mouth.

On the Friday was our tour to the National Park, though our pick up wasn't until 2pm. We set off in search of the laundry the pousada has told us about, which turned out to be a laundry service attached to another pousada. They charged per item, and the prices were absolutely ludicrous! We had saved up quite a bit of washing by then so washing it all probably would have cost us $100. Instead, we had a few key items washed, and returned to the pousada to do some other essentials in the tiny bathroom sink.

Our pick up arrived a little early which surprised us, though we were ready when they arrived. We went out the front of the hotel and jumped in the converted 4WD ute, that had bench seats and a canopy installed on the tray. Very safe with no seat belts or roll cage!

To reach the Lençóis you first need to cross the river, which is done via a car ferry that is pushed across the river by another smaller boat. The trip then takes about 45 minutes being thrown around on sand roads to where the vegetation meets the dunes, the edge of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. From that point, you are on foot as no vehicles are allowed within the Park.

Our tour group was the first to arrive. We set off over the first sand dune just as the next group arrived, and we were glad to have been first as when we reached the first of the lakes, Lagoa da Esmeralda we had a clear photo without people.

It was breathtaking. The sand was so white, and the dunes rolled on and on into the distance, with the contrast of the greeny lake below us. The walk down to it was fun, bouncing down the steep sandy hill until we hit the waters edge and waded through the warm water.

We walked around this first lake, not stopping to swim, with other groups pretty hot on our tail. They did stop to swim in this first lake, but our group carried on over another dune to the the next lake, Lagoa Azul, and actually had it to ourselves for a little while before the masses arrived.

We swam out into the centre, and though there was some weed and algae through it, the water was lovely, fresh and warm. We had about 40 minutes there to just soak up the view surrounded by white dunes, before our guide blew his whistle and we were off to the next stop.

We walked a fair way, up and down dunes, past other beautiful lakes, until we reach Lagoa do Peixe, a lake filled with tiny little fish. As we stood with our feet in the water, the fish started nibbling away at them, which at first tickled and felt a but funny, until some of the slightly larger fish started having a go and occasionally they hurt! But regardless we still stood there for quite a while having some of our dead skin removed, and attempted a swim for a bit until we felt a little under attack and made our way out of the water.

We continued on our walk and saw several more spectacular lakes and dunes. Our guide showed us some areas with some sort of quick sand that you would sink into if you wiggled you swayed back and forth on your feet, and he also spent some time looking for a turtle he wanted to show us but wasn't able to spot one.

Eventually, our walk led us back to our starting point, where a large number of people were congregated on the top of a dune to watch the sunset. It was then that we realised just how many tour companies were there! At least 20 vehicles the same as ours, that could take about 12 people each. However they had seemingly been waiting for the sunset a while and hadn't walked as far or seen as much as we had which was nice. Regardless, the area we covered was only a very small section on the very edge of an enormous and beautiful part of the world.

We sat and watched as the sun dipped behind the clouds just above the dunes, admiring not only the sunset but the colours as the last glimpses of sun bounced off the white sand. We could have sat there until the last bit of light left the sky, but alas, three seconds after the sun left, our guide was calling us back to the vehicle. This was a mad dash of all the tour companies to get back to the ferry first!

We were amongst the first group to arrive back at the ferry. There was a long line of vehicles already forming, and by the side of the road enterprising locals had set up shop selling handicrafts, nuts, drinks and tapioca, a pancake made out of manioc with a filling of your choice.

Once the vehicle and us were both back on the other side of the river, we were dropped back to our accommodation after a beautiful day.

On Saturday, our river tour was all day, with our pick up arriving at 8.15. We were walked to the pier to meet the boat, about 100m from our pousada, and climbed aboard. The speedboat fit about 12 or so people, and it zoomed us down the river towards Caburé, a small beach side town, or collection of restaurants and accommodation built in the sand, to be more precise.

As we made our way along the river, our guide would stop occasionally and explain a few things, which fortunately we had some fellow passengers translate for us, such as the mangroves that are fed upon by crabs, turning the crabs red, then the ibis that feed on the crabs, turning the ibis a brilliant red!

Our first stop was a place called Vassouras, described as a mini-Lençois. We jumped out onto the beach and were met by several monkeys, showing off for tourists cameras in exchange for food in and around the restaurant on the beach. Behind all this was the mini-Lençois, which had dunes and lakes almost as impressive as in the National Park, though on a much smaller scale. We had 40 minutes at this stop, so time for a wander over some dunes then drank a refreshing coconut.

The second stop was a town called Mandacarú. This small town with sand streets was the home of a lighthouse, which was open for us to climb to the top and admire the view over the town below, the flat land and out to the ocean. After going up the lighthouse and a quick icecream we were back on the boat for our third stop, Caburé, where we had close to 3 hours to relax.

As we got off the boat, our guide said there were about 5 restaurants to choose from, all quite expensive, but the one closest to where we pulled up was the best one. We had a look at the menu and quickly realised we couldn't afford much other than chips and a small salad, so decided to check out some other restaurants anyway.

We set off over the sand, and reached a resort that had a restaurant within it that looked equally as expensive, so continued on to the beach for some sun baking and swimming. After a dip, we dried off, reapplied sunscreen, and lay in the sun for a little while. It looked as though a little shack on the beach near us might serve food, so we went to check it out and found a French couple from our tour eating there.

The menu was basic, but in our price range which was nice! Lindsay had steak and Fergus sausage, both of which were cooked on an open flame over a little brazier on the beach, and served with a tomato and onion salad. Delicious!

We sat there in the shade a while, before making our way back to the boat. While standing and waiting for the boat, the sun felt hot, so we got back on early and into some shade. It wasn't until we reached our pousada again that we saw how burnt we both were! Our sunscreen had failed us in the hot sun, so we spent quite some time recovering under a cold shower.

LAPFWT