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  • Spectacular Landscape of Lencois Maranhenses

    Lencois Maranhenses is a national park in Maranhão state in the north of Brazil and is considered one of the world’ s most dramatic landscapes consisting of thousands of dazzling fresh rainwater lagoons hiding below towering sand dunes draped across 598 square miles. The dramatic scenery, formed over thousands of years, is the result of sand and sedimentary deposits carried to the Atlantic Ocean by Parnaiba and Preguiças rivers, which are in-turn driven back inlands, as far as 31 miles by high winds, resulting in the fields of sand dunes.

    The name Lençóis in Portuguese translates to bed-sheets as the dunescape looks like crumpled bed-sheets from above. Strong seasonal winds cause sand to move up, making the dunes as high as 30 meters. This area gets a lot of rainfall in the first half of the year. The seasonal lagoons in the sand dunes fill up with rainwater, mostly during the first six months of the year, giving Lençóis Maranhenses its unique landscape. By mid-year, when the water has reached its peak, the lagoons can reach a depth of 10-15 feet.

    Best Time of the Year to Visit the Park

    After the rains begin to dry in June, the water level on the lakes slowly begins to diminish, and from September on most of the lakes will start to dry up. The best time of the year to visit Lençois Maranhenses is the June-August period, after the rainy season, when the lagoons are still full and the weather is cooler.

    How to Get There

    The access to the park is controlled and only certified agencies can take travelers into the park. The best way to reach the park is to get to São Luís, the state capital, which is about four hours from Lençóis Maranhenses. Flights arrive into the city of São Luis from other Brazilian cities and even from the US. The town of Barreirinhas, located on the south side of the park, is a convenient hub to reach the park as several tours depart from there, and there are many accommodation choices. Buses run between São Luis and Barreirrinhas, but you could also rent a car or take a charter flight from the São Luís Airport. In addition, if you are staying in Barreirinhas, some of the hotels there can arrange a pickup from the São Luis airport.

    The village of Atins on the south side of the park and across the river from Barreirinhas, or Santo Amaro on the north side of the park are other options to enter the park, but are far less developed than Barreirinhas.

    Visiting the Park and Main Attractions

    The easiest way to visit the park is to join a tour on a 4×4., which can take you to the beautiful lagoons. Popular lagoons at Lençóis Maranhenses National Park include Lagoa Bonita (Beautiful Lagoon) and Lagoa Azul (Blue Lagoon), which are near the town of Barreirinhas. Lagoa Tropical, another popular lagoon, is closer to the village of Atins. Lagoa da Gaivota (Seagull Lagoon) is one of the park’ s largest and is near the village of Santo Amaro do Maranhão.

    Other option to see the park is to take a multi-day trek exploring myriad of dunes, beautiful lagoons and several small towns within the park. In addition, you can also arrange for a flight tour over Lencois Maranhenses in a small plane for the best view of the park.