Lençóis Maranhenses: White Dunes & Turquoise Lagoons
The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park — 250 km from São Luís — is one of the world's most extraordinary landscapes: 155,000 hectares of wind-sculpted white dunes filled seasonally with thousands of clear turquoise rainwater lagoons
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The Dune Lagoon Phenomenon
The Lençóis Maranhenses phenomenon – white quartzite dunes filled with clear freshwater lagoons – occurs because the sand is too deep for water to drain; the lagoons, filled by the rainy season, remain during the dry season in the dune valleys
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Lagoa Bonita
The largest and most famous of the Lençóis lagoons – Lagoa Bonita near Barreirinhas – is the iconic image of the park; the emerald green waters surrounded by white sand dunes, reached by a 2-hour jeep ride and an hour's walk, is a transcendent natural spectacle
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Jeep routes from Barreirinhas
The town of Barreirinhas – the gateway to Lençóis – organizes jeep tours through the interior of the park; The 4x4 tracks through the dune landscape, crossing the rivers and reaching the inner lagoons, are extraordinary
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Preguiças River Navigation
The Preguiças River — which flows through the park to the Atlantic — is navigated by boat from Barreirinhas; the river passes through mangrove forest, fishing villages and the extraordinary dune landscape surrounding the Mandacaru lighthouse
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Endemic fish in the lagoons
The Lençóis lagoons are home to fish species found nowhere else - isolated in the seasonal lagoons, these small fish (Hyphessobrycon spp.) have developed specializations to survive the dry season when the lagoons shrink; they arrive with the rain and breed quickly
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Vassouras Village
The fishing village of Vassouras - reached by boat along the Preguiças - lies on the edge of the dunes; the village's isolation, its thatched roofs and its location between the Atlantic Ocean and the dunes make it one of Brazil's most photogenic small settlements