Many call it the “Brazilian Sahara”. Others prefer to call it “the Mirage of Maranhão”. The truth is that the Lençóis Maranhenses attract more and more tourists interested in its mutating dunes and colored landscape. The nuances appear in the clear waters and sand, which reflect a poorly known part of Brazil.

Tropical Mirage
Majestic dunes of the purest white surround silent lagoons and mangroves. The scenery is composed by colors that mutate such as the nuances of the Trade Winds that draw on the sand arabesques that can only be translated by poets in full-moon nights. The Lençóis Maranhenses, the only Brazilian desert, are located within the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, spanning over 155,000 hectares, as big as the city of São Paulo. This little part of Brazil is inhabited by dunes, mangroves, lagoons and forests in an ecosystem rarely found in the world, mainly due to its biodiversity. The dunes, born on crystal-blue waters, can rise up to 40 meters high.

Sand Sculptures
Located in the Barreirinhas county, in the State of Maranhão, the desert is a portrait of a practically unknown Brazil. 100 km of dunes following the coast of Maranhão form an almost surreal landscape. They mix the famous mirages with pools of sweet and colored waters, spotted all around the Park, always inviting for a refreshing bath. The large lagoons, that seem to reflect a rainbow due to the number of colors they show, are full of fish and migrant birds. It is not unusual to find many kinds of birds here, such as the blue-winged marreca, as well as deers and giant marine turtles at the coastal side of the Lençóis.

The “Brazilian Sahara” only differs from the African desert by its fauna and rainfall volume. Here rains 300 times more than in the real Sahara, and that is why it shelters small oases, with lagoons that are used as mating spots by shrimps and fish. By the way, these little creatures are the main livelihood of the region. Most of the rustic people of Barreirinhas work as fishermen, farmers, craftsmen or raising cattle, what gives a nice contrast on the “morrarias”* and “buritis”* landscape.

Rusticity is the brand of this place. A piece of desert in the Brazilian northeast is half a page of poetry in some library. Even considering the rich landscapes of our country, the winds bless each and every grain of sand in this region. It moulds the face of a Portuguese-speaking desert, and paints the clear face of the richness of a universe called Brazil.