Atins and the Grand Lencois

We had only bought our backpacks with a change of clothes and our toothbrushes. Good thing.
The boat put is down on the beach and we were met by about 1/2 dozen people and a Land Cruiser from the smartest (and most expensive) pousada around. We declined in part because it was a long way out of the settlement of Atins.
On the boat we had met a Dutch girl (in her mid 40s) who had been in Brazil for 3 months. She had a deep tan and dreads. She had signed up for the day trip but as we talked she decided that she would stay overnight as she could get a cheap room (within her budget) and a different experience. She had no change of clothes or toothbrush but managed anyway and was delightful company. She stayed in the same pousada as we did. "Pousada da Rita" is very clean, very simple and cheap at $19 per person per night with "Caffe de Mananha"

Pousada da Rita

Hammocks at the pousada

Inside the nice clean kitchen

Dona Rita at the pousada

Atins does not have any paved streets but has some street lights and payphones. Once we were settled in we took a walk down what was in reality "Main St" and just wandered around. A small boy came out of a house and asked that we take his picture.

Note the pose

Note the dress, nice hair do and shoes in the little one

We discovered that he had 7 brothers and (mostly) sisters, so a photo session ensued. Just before we thought we were done one of the younger girls appeared. She had changed her dress and put on her shoes, and had all the attributes of a princess! She was lovely. We promised to send copies of the pictures back to them via Dona Rita. There is no mail in Atins so we will send to a family member in  Barreirinhas and trust it will get there. I think it will. We kind of wandered aimlessly understanding that it would be tough to get lost while in sight of houses. We came across some boys playing futbol (soccer) and one of them (about 6 years old) had a whistle and was the trainer and the referee!. More pictures ensued.

Atins futbol players. The one in white in the middle was the trainer and referee!

We wandered back as it was starting to get dark. We were close to the equator (about 3 deg South) so sun up around 6 and sun down around 6.
There were a couple of places where there were concrete light poles (durable and not subject to insect infestation I suspect is the main reason for concrete) were literally in the middle of the "road" such as it was. 

Note light pole

 
Again no pavement and just beach type sand for the trails. Really cool.
Dinner was not at all exciting. Limited choices in places (maybe 2) and menu choices.  It was pretty bland and unexciting but the beer was cold and we had good company.
We met up also with 2 German girls who were in the pousada and then four Israeli guys who had recently finished their mandatory military service (3 years) and were having fun. After some difficulty and frustration we put together a short tour to the dunes for the next morning for 7 of us (the German girls were undecided at this point) and negotiated a reasonable rate for the trip for the next morning.
A quiet night and a good breakfast "Caffe de Mananha"  and we were ready for the ride on the Toyota Land Cruiser. It is an old style Cruiser labeled a Bandeirante. Built in Brazil but like the Cruisers we had in Africa 20 years ago. Tough as all get out and a high torque diesel engine. Ideal for what we were going to do.
We headed out of the settlement (not quite sure what to call it) and followed some sandy trails and through some water in several places sometimes as deep as 70cm and some soft sand and it was apparent that despite his youth our driver was experienced as we did not get stuck until much later!. 
We were required to have a registered guide with us and the vehicle was not allowed on the dunes, just close enough for us to walk in.

Our guide chillin out before we left Atins

Our drivers son who is already learning the business

Our guide told us that he did one to three day hikes in the area thru the park where you ended up back in Barreirinhas having walked 60km or so in the dunes. There were also shorter walks available.
The whole area is amazing with over 150 sq kilometers of dunes and fresh water lakes and the ocean close by. The best time to go is between June and August when all the lakes are full. Many of them were almost dry but there were plenty you could swim in.

 
  We drove, or rode for about 40 minutes and at some points were very close to the ocean and would see occasional small huts for fishermen, but you got the complete feeling for how remote this place really is. Eventually we stopped and our guide took us into the dunes and we walked for maybe 20-25 minutes and saw several freshwater lakes along the way.

Headed out on the dunes

Dorien The Dutch girl and the others getting spread out.

Group beside one of the lakes

The guide headed back to the Land Cruiser to tell them something (forgotten what) and said he would be back at 11.30 (in about an hour) He was late getting back and we decided to head back towards the shore line where we had left the vehicle. The interesting thing was that we could all agree on the general direction, but could not agree more specifically than an arc of about 50 degrees. In my mined that is huge when you consider how short a time we had walked. It shows how easy it would to get lost or disoriented in desert conditions.

We eventually met back up with the guide and headed back to Atins as several of us had to meet the boat at 2.00. 

This si why we had the Israeli Army guys with us

We had thought about taking the regular ferry (who's schedule was influenced by the tides) but realized that more than half the journey would be after dark and not a whole lot of fun.

The regular ferry from Atins

We caught the boat and actually transferred in Carbure to a bigger boat and the journey back was more direct and took about 90 minutes.
More on Grand Lencois in the next post.

The river trip and Atins

Our boat trip was due to start at 8.30 and was pretty much on time. Basically everyone who had booked trips gathered on the main dock in town and the customers were divided up among the available boats. I think there must be some affiliation between certain boats and certain agencies, but it all seemed informal but worked well. It is a large river and partially tidal at this point.

Headed up one of the loops in the river

Everyone was required to wear a life vest (some other basic safety procedures seen more lax, like seat belts in cars, and we headed out with about 14 people plus the Captain/Guide. We worked our way down the main river and took some side trips in to smaller channels and then came to the first of the smaller dunes where we stopped for about an hour.

We climbed the dunes and for the first time (of many) experienced the small lakes trapped in the sand. The sand was not as hot as I had expected, as there was a nice breeze to keep it cool. The small lakes were 20 or 30 feet down the steep side of the dune and the water was cool but not cold. We wandered around for a while and then back to a small bar/restaurant complete with it’s own generator (small air-cooled Brazilian built) and inevitable satellite dish (even the poorest houses, some without doors) had a dish!). Electrical wiring in general seems to be fairly random and has that temporary look and some of the overhead wiring in town has that Indian look.

TV and random Brazilian wiring

Many jumbled wires and the general feeling that not all the connections are legitimate.

They had a variety of monkeys, ducks goats and other creatures that fed on coconuts that had been kindly split open by the bartender.

Duck pecking at a green coconut

A favorite drink here is Agua de coco, literally coconut water. It is sweet and refreshing particularly when it is good and cold. The coconuts with the best water have not yet developed the complete flesh we would expect to see but there is enough to scoop out with a spoon or let the ducks and goats extract with their teeth or beaks.

We worked our way further down the river and the next stop was a small town with a lighthouse.

As the boat pulled in there were a gaggle of 6 to 7 year old kids all offering to be lighthouse guides. How do you choose between these delightful little kids?

View of the settlement from the top of the lighthouse. You can see Cabure in the distance

They certainly helped by telling us that it did not matter who we chose as they were not going to fight about it anyway. We made our choice and headed off with our guide for the 100m walk to the gate of the lighthouse compound. Our guide was not as knowledgeable as we had hope. When asked how tall the lighthouse was he did not know, nor did he know if it still operated. He did know that he was not allowed to go further than the gate and so we parted company not a whole lot wiser but only Rs1 poorer. He seemed happy!

Lighthouses are a topic that has come to some prominence of late. I have always been interested in them, and visited the Scottish Lighthouse Museum with my friend Geoff back in 2005, and had received a book from my brother Steve’s partner Alison who lives in Shetland about 100 miles north of Scotland. It is about the experiences of a man who became a lighthouse keeper in Scotland in the 1970s just before the lights were all automated. I had finished the book earlier in the trip and Candida was reading it and working at interpreting some of the Shetland sayings!!

It gave us a very different perspective and the opportunity to ask some more intelligent questions of the guide/ keeper at the light.

This one is 45m tall and still operates. We went to the top and got a wonderful view of the town and surroundings.

We also got a glimpse of the realities of this seemingly idyllic life style when we saw the ambulance boat on the dock. It looked neither comfortable nor fast. I did however see a helicopter pad out by the lighthouse so I think either be seriously ill or seriously healthy!

We were back on the boat after an hour or so and headed to Cabure that is on the other side of the river and close to a beach.

Main st of the lighthouse settlement

Approaching Cabure

There were several pousada and a couple of restaurants for the pousadas and the tour boats. We elected to not have lunch but wandered around and explored the area. There were some folks loading up a Land Rover from a dune buggy and they were headed back to town.

The only access to all of these places is either by 4WD vehicles or by boat. They are remote enough that they do not even feature on Google Earth.

The boat dropped us off in Atins around 3pm and basically we were dropped off on the beach.

We did not have a reservation for a place to stay but were told there were several places to choose from at various price points.

More on Atins and the area in my next post.

Saturday was our day to move on and we packed, walked and eventually headed for the airport around noon. Out flight to Sao Luis involved a stop and plane change in Fortaleza and we arrived in Sao Luis about 8.30. Brazil is a huge country and while I understood this it was difficult to believe that Natal to Sao Luis is about 1500 km or about the same distance as Raleigh to Miami. As we were not staying in Sao Luis more than the one night we did little to research where to stay and like Paraty believed we could get a recommendation from the tourist desk in the airport. We did this and ended up in a place close to the airport. It was filthy, in a very sketchy part of town (if there was a nice part we never saw it), and was located behind a truck stop. To top it off there was a sign outside with a warning to the effect that it was illegal to have or solicit sex with a minor! Great!

A further complication was that we could not get in touch with the bus company that was meant to pick us up in the morning. We survived the night and got up and left really early, as we knew that the first regular bus left at 6am. To minimize the amount we carried we decided to ask if we could leave our two big cases at the hotel and collect on our return. They agreed so we left with one small case and the fervent hope that ours be there upon our return (they were I am pleased to say, all safe and untouched).

Our final destination was Lencois de Maranho, a National Park about 260km away, and a world away from Sao Luis. Our bus journey was about 4.5 hours and started on a four-lane highway and eventually on to a much smaller road with the occasional excursion into a small town to pick up or set down passengers. 

Our bus at a rest stop for the driver. Brazilian coffee (strong and sweet) was 50 cents!

Some people also got the bus to stop basically on the side of the road and were either met by someone or they walked off down a small side road to who knows where!

Barreirinhas is the largest town close to the Lencois Park, population maybe 5000 or so.

We had made a reservation at a pousada based on a Trip Advisor recommendation, and knew that it was about 15 minutes out of town and more easily accessible by boat than by car or bus.

Our host Michael

The walk up to the pousada from the river

We finally were able to make contact with the pousada and Michael; the owner met us with his boat at the dock. He is Swiss and owns the property with his Brazilian wife. It was a wonderful place to stay, and made more so by our previous nights experience!

View up river

They have four or five chalets which are large and spacious with a/c and a nice bathroom and a king size bed. There is a small eating area and a small bar fridge in the room. That seems to be a common feature with drinks that are not outrageously priced.

Our room was called Caju (Cashew) The same name of the place where Candida used to work in Chapel Hill

We had a good lunch and a then a siesta base on our early start. 

The dining area

The unpaved street outside

The pousada has a small dock and kayaks available, and the street side is much less impressive although generally nicer than the other houses on the street. We took a walk and saw a place that was being developed as a pousada, but it looked like there had been little work done on it in quite a while.

Between the bus and being picked up by Michael we had arranged some tours including one night in a remote village near the mouth of the river for our stay and a second place to stay for the last two nights back in Barreirinhas.

Morning view of the peaceful river

We have a river trip, a jeep ride out to the dunes, and a float down a smaller river way out of town as the basic agenda.

Ponta Negra and Natal

We had booked a pousada in Ponta Negra, which was a 50-minute flight from Fernando on the recommendation of a guy who had lived close by and all was well. Again, a pretty basic place but adequate and clean and about a block off the beach. We really had no particular plan for the 4 days we planned to be there but felt we would find things to do.

Lots of new condo and apartment construction going on

Ponta Negra beach

Mobile clothing store on the beach. He even takes Visa!

My translation was "Do not piss on the grass"

We booked a city tour and a day on a dune buggy, both of which proved to be fun. The city tour took us out to a small town close by that has the largest cashew tree in the world.

All the green is one tree!

It is huge and basically covers a city block. We also visited the fort in Natal, which, again had been variously occupied, by the Dutch, French and eventually the Brazilians. We also saw a place where US Army forces had been stationed in WW2. That would certainly have been a way better gig than fighting in France or Italy or in the Far East. Like the Danish fort in St Croix the conditions for the officers were way better than for the foot soldiers who had to endure poorer water and living conditions while the officers, and particularly the Commandant lived it up. The stuff mutinies are made of.

New bridge that replaced a ferry

The afternoon was topped off with a flat tire on the way home but they sent another van and all was ok.

The next day we took a trip up to Geripabu about 25km up the coast to the sand dunes in a dune buggy. This was a fun day and a little touristy but we got to see and ride on the dunes and take a random looking ferry across a small river. 

View from the dunes

Towards the ocean

The dune buggies (there were many) were loaded one or two on a raft and hand paddled across the river. 

We also decided to do the skiboom and skyboom. Skiboom is basically where they launch you down a steep slope of the sand dune on a board and you land in a small pond and promptly fill your shorts with sand!

Skyboom is similar except that you zip line down in a sort of ski lift chair and land in the water. The skyboom operator then winches you back up on a crude little rail system using a VW engine and transmission and a single cable. There did not appear to be any sort of backup system if the cable came loose or similar!

Skyboom winch. It must have been "bring your kid to work day"

We rested up and had a good dinner quite late because we had heard from the guy on Fernando that Thursday nights were “forro” nights at a local dance club

A forro in the true sense is an informal dance primarily for poor rural people, but in recent years this has been gentrified into forro universidad. We had been told that the tickets were Rs10 but proved to be 30. Being a little cheeky and having learned that “senior discounts” were common we asked for, and got a 50% discount. The forro was in a basement that was hot, crowded and loud, but they served beer and water and lots of people were dancing. Candida said that she had never been allowed to go to a forro when she was young, so this was her first experience. She said that the music was not very good or authentic but we had a lot of fun and some inquisitive looks from the generally much younger crowd.

Street cleaners. Not sure I care for the orange socks!

Construction truck. Looks like it is designed to carry lots of people and maybe some cement and gravel as an afterthought

Friday was a quiet day and we walked down to the beach, as we had several times over the previous couple of days. We managed to avoid a rainstorm in a small (somewhat) covered café that was associated with a pousada and was serving breakfast. We had eaten but wanted a coffee. The waiter was delightful and very helpful and we sampled some of their breakfast food but he only charged us for the coffee, and then gave us a discount because they did not have change (this occurred more than once on our trips). He worked there in the mornings in exchange for a free breakfast and then sold CDs on the beach for a while and then a third job somewhere. He said he was a pharmacist, and he may be correct!