Lencois, Chapada Diamantina

When Anna and I did the boat journey around the bay from Salvador, we didn´t think we would meet there some people that we would keep meeting again and again. We left for Lencois with just on girl from our hostel that we met on that trip, but kept collecting more and more people on the way. In the end, most of our bus ended up stayng in the same place (Pousada dos Duendes) and we all took the same trips and spend several days together.

First of all, pousada was a very nice place that was so friendly, we didn´t really want to leave in the end. I don´t think I will ever forget Anna, a greek girl from our hostel in Salvador, who has done just about anythng you can imagine and now lives and teaches in a Greek school in Sudan. Duendes are small elves (pixies) that chapada is apparently full of, and I cannot hlp but feel that they have something to do with the unique feel of the place. The word that springs to mind is magical.

Lencois was a centre of diamond mining industry, but this was officially forbiden in 1985 and since then the employment in the town is a major problem. There are lots of poeple on the streets and the laucky ones end up working as guides. In fact, you will be lucky to get a guide like ours (thak you Thiago), who not only knows the area inside out, but also feels such a pasion about the natre and is building his own eco house in teh area. He did not speak English so Anna and I had to work as translators for the rest of teh group, but we didn´t charge anyhting in the end

We did two trips in Chapada, one to the Pai Inacio Mountain and the other one to the Sossego waterfall. The walk to Pai Inacio was very nice and tiring, on the side of the mountain, very close to the vegetation typical to the region. We learnt a lot about many medicinal plants, as well as natural versions of the toilet paper and various dies (one Swiss girl was particularly excited and painted her face with those). However, the high point was arriving in front on the Pai Inacio and seeing something that I though only existed in the USA. The view is breathtaking, and if that isn´t enough, the views from the top are even more stunning. Thiago told us a story about the name of the mountain, that was enetrtaining and he kept doing it in instalemnts, building it up. In the end he ran and jumped of the top of the mountain, leaving us all stunned, just to descover that he did a trick on us. The story was amazing and if nothing else, this was worth the trip.

The second trip was through the landascapes that were quite different, but none the less beautiful. We walked through the canyon itself, oftend having to cross the river and walking on te rocks. Even though the distance was the same, it was more difficult, but more rewarding walk. There were natural pools along the way were we could swim. Plants surrounding the river release tannins into the water, making it so dark red that it is almost black. It is a secial experience stepping into the water where you cannot see anyhting, but we have been told there are no monsters living there and the whole experience was very rewarding. The name of the waterfall, means a person that is chilled and once you arrive there you understand why.

On the way we also saw the sedimentary layers that were amongts the most amazing things I have ever seen mainly dur to the evidence for the tectoic movements and the scale of it.

To finish it all we went to a small waterfall ending in a water slide (painful, but extremely fun).