Parque National da Chapada Diamantina
Incredible
Cobblestone
Lençóis is a municipality in the state of Bahia and was founded to exploit diamonds in the region. We stayed in a nice camping site hidden away among the narrow cobblestone streets. How Pete manoeuvred Ithaca through them astounded us all - a lesser man would have said 'feck that', parked in the spacious town plaza and made us walk to the site. Granted all the cooking utensils and food is on the truck, but that would have been another issue.
Lençóis has a lot of pretty views to offer visitors; I passed up on the opportunity to do a 25km walk through the spectacular picture perfect scenery as, despite the heat, I'm not completely devoid of my senses just yet. Instead I opted to check out a few popular attractions that didn't involve too much hiking.
Myself and 11 others of the group set off to see Parque National da Chapada Diamantina which contains an abundance of plants, waterfalls, large caves and rivers with natural swimming pools. We followed the Rio Mucugezinho for a little bit, where it plunges over Cachoeira do Diabo (Devil's Pool) and headed down to enjoy swimming in the natural pool underneath. Back in the 19th century slaves used to construct aquaducts that channeled water to areas where diamond miners worked and used the water to wash the rock in search of diamonds. Devil's Pool was named because of the amount of slaves that died in the process of trying to divert water from the river and from diving to great depths to locate rocks containing diamond rock. The pool is a natural place for diamonds to accumulate due to the current and abrasion of swirling rocks and sand. The Devil's Pool is a great place to swim in the beauty of the surrounding cliffs and river valley. Plus, the water was very cold, a refreshing change from the oppressive heat.
Next up was a trip to a huge cave, Gruta do Lapa Doce in Pratinha. Not sure on the exact details but we walked underground for about 1km, seeing load of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and hanging curtains. One formation even looked like an owl - can you see the resemblance in the photo below? Our guide had fun making shadow puppets using the formations, and for a minute we all saw a T-Rex come out of the shadows. I can only imagine how bored he must have been in order to come up with that discovery in the first place. Either way the cave was incredible, really huge, and pitch black apart for the light that came from our torches.
Checked out Gruta Azul (Blue Cave) at Pratinha. Unfortunately it is not the right time of year to see the pool illuminated crystal blue. I'm sure it looks amazing when the light catches it correctly. However we just saw a slight blue ripple in the centre of the lake. We also went for a dip in the Pratinha river; there were numerous fishes about so a few people went snorkelling. We had a few brave fishes attempting to exfoliate the soles of our feet, however some were a little too eager and gave quite a nip.
Saw Morro de Camelo (Camel Hill) from a distance and climbed up to the table-top mountain at Morro de Pai Inacio which offered a beautiful view of the Chapada. We stayed up there just until after sunset, it was a reflective experience as it's been a long while since I sat and just watched the sun go down. I noticed that we all kinda broke away to our own area to sit and watch the sunset in a companionable silence. Only niggle was that a few Americans clapped after the display finished; these are no doubt the same people who applaud pilots for successful landings. They got a few funny looks from us as we wondered if they clap and rejoice after every daily sunset. Seriously folks!! Major eye-rolling on my part.
Time for another city, Brasilia beckons next....
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