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LENÇÓIS MARANHENSES

An amazing desert full of water
Words: Gabriel Silvestre

When I started to read up on the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, I became very confused. Starting with the name of the place, which for me conjures up an image of rolling hills and valleys crisscrossed by rivers and inhabited by wild animals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The park is in fact a desert, the only one in Brasil. Alright then, it must be inhospitable and arid, I thought. But the books informed me that, in Lençóis, it rains about 1,600mm per year, 320 times more than in the Sahara, and there are thousands of oases. So, you know what? I gave up trying to understand, packed my bags and went to see it for myself.

The easiest way to get to the Park is to set out from São Luís, the capital of Maranhão, and drive 260km to a city called Barreirinhas via the recently-constructed motorway that has cut down the time it takes to get to the park. The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park was set aside by federal law in 1981, and takes up an area the size of the district of São Paulo. Frozen in time, the region had a brief boom at the beginning of the `70s when Petrobras started prospecting for oil (without much success) beneath the sandy terrain. But, since the region’s major treasure has always been its surreal beauty, tourism took off in the `90s and today is the driving economic force in the area.



Invariably, Lençóis is always depicted using overhead shots that show a succession of lakes and dunes that seem to stretch on infinitely. But anyone who goes to the region soon sees for themselves that the photos only give a glimpse of the parks magnitude. ‘Otherworldly’, that’s how Mexican archeologist Geraldine Cornejo described the surroundings after taking a half hour flight across the park. ‘If on foot we were blown away by the lakes, just imagine up above, where you can see thousands of them creating an endlessly beautiful landscape’, she explains.

The region’s rivers, like the Preguiças and the Parnaíba, accumulate a vast amount of sand and when they finally flow into the sea, they deposit this build-up on the coastline. When the tide goes in, this sand is exposed to the sun. Thanks to the strong winds, the sand is blown up to 50km inwards, forming dunes that reach up to 20m high. The rain which is concentrated during the first half of the year ends up forming innumerous pockets of water, which grow and connect to the rivers. You’ll even find fish swimming in them. This peculiar natural cycle is responsible for the spectacular ecosystem that stretches out over 155 hectares.

To get an initial taste of Lençóis I opted for a jeep ride across the desert to visit some lakes. After riding up and down the dunes, we park the vehicle and the group followed the guide towards the Lagoa Azul. We seemed insignificant faced with the vast, curving whiteness. Then suddenly, like an oasis, a lake of crystalline water appeared out of nowhere. Lagoa Esperança is another obligatory stop-off. Incomparably beautiful, it’s even around during the annual drought.