Waterfalls, caves and a lot of rain
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2006
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38
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Trip End
Mar 04, 2007
Lençois, Brazil
Saturday, February 24, 2007
The following morning I got my first proper view of Lencois, which was a very pretty town with cobblestone streets and surrounded by beautiful countryside. I went for a walk up the river where I saw locals washing their clothes and swimming. The walk itself was a bit challenging as there wasn't really a path and I had to jump between rocks, but it was worth it for the great view of Lencois.
The next day I hiked to Cachoeira da Fumaca (smoke waterfall), the highest waterfall in Brazil. It was fantastic to be back in the countryside again and fortunately the hike was fairly flat! We had to wade across a couple of rivers before we finally made it to the waterfall. In order to get a good look I had to lie down on a rock which jutted out and shimmy forward while someone held my feet to make sure I didn't fall. The waterfall was beautiful, particularly because it had to rainbows stretching across it. Unfortunately a huge thunderstorm started soon after and continued for the next 2 hours so I got absolutely soaked walking back as I hadn't thought to bring a rain jacket with me - d'oh!
My last day in Lencois was also spent in Chapada Diamantina National Park. Firstly we visited some waterfalls which were pretty but not especially impressive. We then walked up to the top of Morro de Pai Inacio for a stunning panoramic view of the national park; there wasn't a building in sight - fantastic! The top of the hill was mostly rocky but there were a surprising number of plants growing on top of it including cacti and pretty pink orchids. Our final stop was at Lapa Doce cave which was massive with loads of stalactites, some of which were very strange shapes.
