Barreirinhas, Vassouras and Mandacaru, Maranhao - Brazil

Barrerinhas, Vassouras, Mandacaru - Maranhao - Brazil slideshow

Barreirinhas is 350 km by bus east of Sao Luis, about four hour by bus. This quaint town with streets shaded by large mango and cashew trees has a friendly slow feel to it, specially when the sun is at its highest between noon and 2pm. Most pousadas (guest houses) and the main square stand by Rio Prequica, appropriately translated as Sloth River. The river makes a few curves as it slowly winds it's way through town – just looking at the river, you can't really tell which way is up stream. On the map it looks like a long snake cutting through the mangrove for about 100 miles.

Barreirinhas is the gateway to Parque National dos Lencois Maranheinheses, an area of 155,000 hectares. The wind is a constant presence, lifting the sand that glide from the ground with a force and momentum that is dictated by the wind. This creates an interesting landscape, including small and large dunes. During the day it is hot, dry and windy and at night it is windy and cool, very similar to any desert. Rio Prequica is the easiest way to get to most of the dunes, the second best is by four wheel drive or buggy. For the last 10 km before it empties into the Atlantic, the river flows parallel to the ocean, separated only by dunes. The best time of the year to visit is right after the rains (May – August) when temporary lagoons fill up huge ponds between the dunes with rain water, but the area is impressive any time of the year.

We arrived in Barreirinhas from Sao Luis around lunch time. After finding a pousada by Rio Prequica and eating lunch, we strolled around to inquire about outings to the dunes and watched this friendly place come back to life after the siesta – that's about an hour before the sunset.

I have noticed, specially in small towns, including Barreirinhas, that pentecostal churches like the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has become a common sight even in a strong Catholic country such as Brazil. I have also noticed that Coca-Cola is sometimes more available than water in very hot places, a blunt sign of the strength of the brand. And although I had already made the connection between the ubiquity of churches and Coca-Cola, it was only in Barreirinhas that I had this thought illustrated. On a back street, I saw a “franchise” of the pentecostal church right next to an old Coca-Cola distributor. This picture could even be called “Exhibit I” in a demonstration of the strength and the close relationship between Coca-Cola and pentecostal churches in Brazil. In Maranhao, there is even a brand of Guarana made by Coca-Cola, called “Guarana Jesus,” a syrupy version of the original Guarana Antartica sold all over Brazil. So much for globalization, franchises, religion, and their control of the masses, either by giving them a bad health, a clouded mind, or both.

At the end of our stroll, we made our way to the town square by Rio Prequica, had our daily coconut water and firmed up our deal to have a dune spotting boat pick us up at 9am. Our Pousada has a pier on the back side, so we were picked up on the river, which I found really charming. Our first stop along the river was Vassouras, where we saw small dunes, then Mandacaru, a fishing village, where we climbed up the light house and had a view of the river, ocean, and some dunes in the distance. The dune spotters would leave us at Cabure.