around the world: Lençóis and Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina

As promised I will post some blogs in English for our English speaking friends to understand as well.

After Salvador we decided we are going to see plenty more beautiful beaches in the northeast of Brazil, so we caught a 7 hour bus west into the interior of Bahia to a town called Lençóis. It is a beautiful, very small diamond-mining town, which is now oriented towards tourism and excursions to Chapada Diamantina , a national park since 1985. After Salvador we felt really at home here, not like tourists. We stayed in Pousada dos Duendes and absolutely loved it. Kind and helpful staff, a cute room and a great breakfast was all it took to get us hooked:) We took two short walks through the forest around Lençóis enjoying the pools, waterfalls, waterslide and beautiful scenery. But what we really wanted to do was a multi-day trek into the national park (2-8 day treks are possible). We met a really nice Aussie (Australian) girl, who wanted to do the trek as well and decided on a 3-day option to Paty Valley, which was, as we were told, one of the best treks in the world. But nothing could prepare us for the breathtaking scenery inside the Chapada. We were very fortunate to have a great guide Puma who took us to all the best spots, kept us laughing and showed us that shoes are not really necessary. We walked 50 km in total, slept under an overhanging rock, had wet sleeping bags and saw amazing scenery and beautiful waterfalls, and had a great time with the group, all of that making us sorry we didn’t take a longer trek. To be honest it felt like Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) was guiding us through the scenery of a movie Avatar, while in between he would turn into Jamie Oliver. However we had an airplane waiting for us in Salvador to take us to Fortaleza. We promised ourselves we will be back again someday. For anyone traveling to Bahia, Brazil this trek (among others) is a must and ask for Puma. You will have the time of your life!