Lencois maranhenses is a natural phenomenon in Sao Luis, a northest region of Brazil, known for its vast desert landscape of tall, white sand dunes and seasonal rainwater lagoons. Its peak season is July and August so I planned early this year to visit here as tourist infrastructure is limited and gets busy during this time.
We took an early morning flight to Sao Paulo and connection to Sao Luis. After being picked up by our transfer driver, it took 4 hours to get to the Barreirinhas which is the jump off point for many tours in the area. due to limited hotels, the one I managed to book and reasonably priced is called Orla Nautica pousadas. Girls were not impresed, hehehe, but I was intentionally wanting them to be more adaptable.
we all slept ok. Sofia stayed with me in a room, I forgot my earplug, she was bothered by mosquitos and singing at 2am. Lizzy was annoyed by daddy’s snoring. Oh well… the next day was bright! The breakfast selection was good and we had many cats as company.
our tour guide picked us up on time 845. We were a group of 9 people. Sitting in a modified 4×4, a real life rollercoaster journey was about to start
Our first stop, after 1 hours of very bumpy ride on the sand path and ponds, we arrived at Lagoa Bonito. We were eager to get to the top to see what this is about
and WOOOOOOOOOOOOO… this is amazing!!!! Endless dunes and blue water
as Lizzy said: this is the best kind of beach, clean, perfect powder sand, knee height water, not cold, and no sharks.
Sofia and I went up and down the dunes to explore and this place is immense. It’s really a desert with beach combined with crystal water
despite being the peak season, it was not full of people as I expected and used to. I felt many times the place is just for ourselves
Lizzy had fun staying in the water with daddy and building sand castles
we stayed there for an hour before going for a lunch break, a break from the sun that was much needed. After lunch, I lounged at a hammock for a nap and digestion. Oh… I so want a hammock now
then we visited Lagoa Azul, similar but different, the most fun part was going through the dunes with our truck, it was really a rollercoaster in real life, so much fun! Sofia and Lizzy didn’t want it to stop
while the girls played in the water with daddy, as we had 2 hours until sunset, I stayed like this to protect myself from the sun and sand as it was super windy. Sofia caught me in inaction
from this view you’d think this is a regular beach
but then you have sand dunes for endless fun
we were up and down for many times, amazed by the nature wonder
and sunset came
final family pic for the day and we returned to our pousada for a much needed shower
This place is amazing! We are all thrilled for more dunes and sands fun! Sofia can’t wait to swim in the water for some open water swimming practice.
Our New Journey 