BRAZIL: THE CHAPADA DIAMANTINA NATIONAL PARK

SAE'S VOLUNTEER (CAROLINE) TRAVELS AROUND BRAZIL

Brazil is one big beach. But don’t wait to top up the tan to venture inland and discover the best the interior has to offer in the Chapada Diamantina National Park, be it lazing in a hammock or hiking to see Brazil’s second highest waterfall.

Only 6 and a half hours inland by bus from urban sprawling Salvador, a stone’s throw in Brazilian travel terms, you can find yourself alone with mother nature in the National Park ´Chapada Diamantina´, located in the state of Bahia in the North-East of Brazil. The national park is host to a plethora of adventure sports and pursuits, with lush green valleys for trekking and rappelling, natural pools and waterfalls for swimming, and even caves to snorkel in. However, my own adrenaline rush came from exploring this region by motorbike.

Since I was living and working in the small town of Lençóis located in the park, this formed the starting point for my trip. Lençóis, not to be confused with the national Park Lençóis Marenheses further in the north, acts as the port of entrance to the Chapada. Historically it is an old diamond mining town, the region’s previous primary industry (hence the name ´diamantina´ or ´diamond´) and reason Lençóis was founded. It successfully retains it’s colonial-style buildings from the end of the 19th century, cobbled streets, brightly painted houses and friendly feel whilst the infrastructure has developed to receive tourists. It has an abundance of pools to go swimming. You are spoilt for choice with ´Serrano pools´, ´Primavera waterfall´, the natural water slide ´Riberao do Meio´, with locals surfing down, or a popular day walk to ´Sossego waterfall´ (meaning peace and tranquillity). Nor is there a shortage of affordable good quality restaurants; nowhere else in the countryside was I able to find pasta made by an Italian or a great Thai curry.

My slow paced life was sped up dramatically by hiring a motorbike with my boyfriend. Leaving Lençóis towards its sister town Andaraí for the first night we quickly realised how the path less travelled was destined to be possibly more precarious than the no-speed-limit-enforced highways as we skidded along the dirt track to our first stop, the small village of Remanso. The scenic route, on paper at least, is shorter than the highway that goes from Lençóis to Andaraí. However, Remanso is home to the area ´Marimbus´, a mini-pantanal wetlands area that provides a pleasant one day canoe trip to the River Roncador and, as such, we had to cross a fairly short stretch of water. This required chatting to many villagers to find out who owned a boat to make the crossing. Eventually a teenage boy and his friends who had been swimming in the river at the point of the crossing, a popular place with the locals to cool off, provided the result we were after: a basic rickety-looking narrow wooden rowing boat and paddle. This certainly didn’t make for a speedy crossing. However, it was cheap, fun, we got to see a section of the Marimbus and have the tracks to ourselves the whole time.

Arriving in Andaraí the aesthetic similarities with Lençóis were very apparent, cobbled streets and colonial architecture blended with small traditional housing, but it is certain that Lençóis is the prettier and rightfully deserves the main influx of visitors. Andaraí is spread over a larger area and built on different levels, along a river and in a valley and also importantly for anyone with their own transport has a petrol station. ´Pousada Andaraí´guesthouse was comfortable and had a swimming pool. In the Chapada this always struck me as an unnecessary and, no less so in Andaraí, given that five minutes down the road is the real luxury bathing spot- the town’s principal attraction of white sandy river beaches. We admired the locals and wild horses enjoying the tranquillity from ´Pousada Ecologica´s´ spectacular restaurant view.

By motorbike we visited another picture postcard highlight of the park, ´Gruta Azul´. This is a larger version of the ´Poço Azul´, the latter being included in the most popular one day trek organized from Lençóis. However, the ´Guta Azul´ is more impressive as you have the opportunity to actually snorkel in its bright water, lit up during certain months when the sun is at the right angle to burst in and make it glow a luminous aquatic blue.

Leaving Andaraí towards the tiny village of Igatu, or Xique-Xique as it was originally known, felt like entering into the Wizard of Oz as the old miner’s path connecting the two locations instantly recalled the yellow brick road as its cobbled yellowish stones wound up and down the hillsides. As the passenger on the motorbike I got the privilege of looking back down over Andaraí, and wishing that this were my home.

Some refer to Igatu as Bahia’s Machu Picchu; this would be an over-sell. Though this doesn’t take away from the fact that it is important to the region historically and will one day be a large ruined settlement. To this day each individual house is made out of stones, and though once inhabited by 15,000 the boom and then bust of the diamond mining industry has left it with a mere 500 residents, and a lot of crumbling eerie houses to explore. The village’s museum does a good job of explaining the mining history with mining tools on show. Yet, the real museum is the houses themselves which you can wander over and around. No Chapada Diamantina destination would be complete without some sort of water feature, and just 15 minutes from the centre of Igatu we found a small waterfall.

Arriving in Mucuge from felt like entering a city in comparison, though in fact it is a similar sized old mining town to Lençóis. ΄Pousada Pé da Serra΄ provided not just a secure place to park the motorbike, but a path which led directly to a humongous rock on a hill with panoramic views of the town and surrounding countryside. In the same street there is another Pousada which would have made a nice alternative, with impressive wall features ´bringing the outside in´, as the guesthouse was built against the rock face and therefore rocks protrude into every bedroom creating natural walls and shelving. Mucuge is home to the ´Sempreviva project´, ´Sempreviva´ being a flower specific to the region that is ´always alive´. With further waterfalls, mining houses and a museum and laboratory to discover, it makes for an enjoyable visit which is neither written about nor advertised in Lençóis. What puts Mucuge on the map, however, is its Byzantine cemetery, which I visited during the day and passed lit up at night. It is the only Byzantine Gothic cemetery found in the Americas and is officially registered as part of Brazil´s Historic Patrimony.

Yet the Chapada Diamantina is full of plenty more gems as the village of Capão demonstrated. We had the advantage of a motorbike, yet without your own transport reaching it can be tricky, since you first need to get to Lençóis, catch another bus to Palmeiras, then hitch a lift or group up with other tourists and someone with a just about functioning car will be happy to negotiate a price and take you there. Capão itself is very much a hippy hang out, small, yet there is room for a circus school. From here one of the best one day trips possible is to Fumaça waterfall, the second highest waterfall at 1400 feet in Brazil. ´Fumaça´ means smoke, as the water doesn’t actually all have a chance to make it to the bottom. Alternatively you can see Fumaça from the top and bottom by doing a three day trek. The other most recommendable trip in this area is walking in the Pati valley, which I can only describe as a very green miniature grand canyon. In my 6 months in the national park and time travelling in Brazil it was the most breathtaking natural scenery I encountered. Unmissable.

Whilst you can walk back to Lençóis from Capão in a day, we stuck with the faster option. Either way, you get to pass ´Morrão´, a massive solitary flat top hill. Its enormity is impressive; though the smaller ´Morro do Pai Inacio´ the famous symbol of the park’s scenery as it is easily accessible from Lençóis and quick to climb. From Capão back to Lençóis via Palmeiras provided the most exciting part of the journey with such awe inspiring scenery surrounding you. Palmeiras is just for passing through, unless you happen to find yourself there for carnival, the only town in the Chapada that gets it’s party hat on for 5 days once a year. If you want to see a bite-size Salvador carnival, this is the place. Just locals, just 1 trio-eletrico, but plenty of spirit and crime-free.

Back in Lençóis we headed straight out for another day’s adventure by motorbike to ´Mosquito waterfall´, ´Mosquito´ not actually referring to the insect fortunately, but a local word for a mining tool. This was probably the only time we encountered a major problem on motorbike- by taking an early turning into a coffee plantation and managing to get padlocked in. We had only seen about one other farmer pass by on the dirt track. We weren’t hopeful for anyone returning any time soon. Luckily, we successfully unpick a lot of barbed wire to get us and the bike out and made it to ΄Mosquito waterfall΄. This is another of the Chapada´s impressive waterfalls, though without a pool to swim in.

΄Mosquito waterfall΄ was the last I visited, with a loop of the park encompassing all of the major attractions completed. The Chapada Diamantina National Park is an antithesis to Salvador΄s heaving city, loved by Bahians, Brazilians and foreigners alike. It makes for a fantastic alternative to all the sun, sea and sand Brazil has to offer, and I managed a pretty spectacular tan without just lying on the beach.


HOW TO GET THERE: From Salvador: 3 buses a day run by Real Express or regular flights to Lencois´ airport 20km from town. From Sao Paulo: daily bus but over 24 hours
WHERE TO STAY: In Lencois: Budget: Pousada dos Duendes. No budget: Hotel Cantos das aguas
WHERE TO EAT: In Lencois ´Etnia´ and the Pizza at the Chachachá bar ´Fazendinha´, where locals and tourists frequent.
TREK COMPANY: H20 located in Pousada dos Duendes or go to the Guide Association to get a fully credentialed guide.
RECCOMMENDED GUIDES: Mil, Carlos, Haribol, Leo Zion
BEST TIME TO GO: All year round though the dry season means it´s not posible to visit places like Fumaca for lack of water.

WEBSITE: www.guialencois.com.br