We left the western area of the Chapada and headed back east to Lençois, stopping along the way in the small town of Palmeiras. The road winds through the rocky hills and outcrops, showing off tight green valleys and sweeping vistas until it finally forks off from the main corridor and descends into the river valley which borders the colonial mining town of Lençois.
We easily located our lovely pousada, which lies at the edge of the town in a beautiful garden, with beautifully appointed rooms and a spectacular breakfast and even a yoga verandah. Check the website at www.vilaserrano.com.br. After settling in, we headed down the steep rock and cobblestone road to the one lane bridge into the heart of the old town. It has been meticulously kept-up—the array of brightly painted houses with decorated rooftops and heavy shutters that line the narrow pedestrian streets and its wide and oddly shaped “squares” are time-transporting.
The hilly cobblestone alleys, busy with students and shoppers and laborers early in the morning, then bake undisturbed under a piercing sun, until later in the afternoon, when people reappear and the bustle of the town seamlessly resumes. Small restaurants dot the side alleys, and out of miniscule kitchens, lovely meals make their way to the hodgepodge of tables and mismatched chairs that perch on the cobblestones. The bar cum general store that is a anchor on one of the small squares off a principal alley provided us with hours of entertainment as we watched the locals finish their day with drink and banter, soccer and television, gossip and quiet staring into a cold beer, while the owner/shopkeeper managed the chaos with an effortless good will and careful eye. Meanwhile we consumed untold numbers of jugs of freshly-made fruit juices.
As I became somewhat ill and feverish during our stay there, most of the longer walking excursions were taken alone by Andres. He headed to the waterfalls south west of town—Ribeirao de Meio-- during one day, up to the viewpoints atop the mountain named Pai Inácio at sunset another day, and by car we headed south of Lencois to several of the small towns of Andaraí and Mucuge, stopping along the way in the gorgeous hamlet of Igatu. These small towns all lie on the eastern border of the national park. Each has its own charm; a main street and square of sorts hold the colonial buildings and church, and Igatu adds to this a spectacular location high in the hills at the end of a winding stone road, that is nothing less than fairytalish, a Byzantine style cemetery, and a cast of local characters whom we met in the central square’s bar.
From Lençois we continued east to the coast and Salvador, where after a quiet night near the airport, we returned to the megalopolis of Sao Paulo.
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