In a remote part of Brazil, a long way from the nearest airport, and lying just outside the Amazon basin, lies the spectacular Lençóis Maranhenses National Park.
This place is like nothing else on earth – gigantic white sand dunes, rising majestically to the sky, interspersed with fresh water lakes. The effect is incredible, and while tricky to get to, it should definitely be on any visitor’s list of places to visit in Brazil.
We have been staying in Barreirinhas, a small, nondescript town lying on the south east edge of the dunes. The dunes cover a huge area, and are only accessible by 4 wheel drive, so we found a driver and guide to get us there.
We set off through town in a specially converted pick-up…
To get to the dunes you cross the Preguiças river by boat
You pass through a small village and then it’s a half hour, incredibly bumpy drive, that is an experience in itself. You would not want to do this if you were in any way infirm.
We felt like we were on safari, and just as you think the roller coaster journey will never end, the white dunes rise up out of the bush ahead of you.
Suddenly you find yourself driving across brilliant white… desert 
Our driver dropped us off and drove away, which was a little unnerving, but we were too excited to care
The lakes are crystal clear rain water that has been filtered by the sand. It’s completely safe to swim. Eli had a blast running down the dunes and jumping in.
Being surrounded on all sides by huge desert dunes, and bathing in water that’s pure enough to drink, the effect was utterly surreal.
When the clouds cleared it got very hot, very quickly. I was reminded of two of my favourite movies – Flight of the Phoenix and Capricorn One.
At one point a small plane flew over and we thought we were going to be rescued… 
This incidentally is what it looks like from the air…
We had an amazing time hiking from one lake to another – an experience we’ll never forget.
