Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
Encyclopedia
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
state, in northeastern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, just east of the Baía de São José
Baía de São José
The Baía de São José is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Maranhão state of northeastern Brazil.The bay is an estuary which receives several rivers, including the Itapecuru and Munim....
, between 02º19’—02º45’ S and 42º44’—43º29’ W. It is an area of low, flat, occasionally flooded land, overlaid with large, discrete sand dunes. It encompasses roughly 1000 square kilometers, and despite abundant rain, supports almost no vegetation. The park was created on June 2, 1981. It was featured in the Brazilian film The House of Sand
The House of Sand
The House of Sand is a 2005 Brazilian film directed by Andrucha Waddington. It stars real life mother and daughter Fernanda Montenegro and Fernanda Torres...
. Most recently, it was featured in the song "Kadhal Anukkal
Kadhal Anukkal
"Kadhal Anukkal" is a Tamil song from the 2010 film Enthiran, directed by S. Shankar. The song was composed by A. R. Rahman, sung by Vijay Prakash, Shreya Ghoshal and lyrics written by Vairamuthu. The Hindi and Telugu version of the song are titled "Pagal Anukkan" and "Neelo Valapu" and written by...
" from the Indian film, Enthiran.
Visiting
Located on the eastern coast of the state of MaranhãoMaranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...
by the banks of the Preguiças River, the park embraces the municipalities of Humberto de Campos, Primeira Cruz, Santo Amaro and Barreirinhas, the latest serving as the main jumping off point into the protected park.
There are several regular bus/truck routes between Barreirinhas
Barreirinhas
Barreirinhas is a town and municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil.-References:...
and São Luís, Brazil (Maranhão's capital), a distance of about 260km. There are also air taxis from São Luís to Barreirinhas. The Rio Preguiças river connects the park to Atins, a city at the edge of the park. The most important access roads near the park are BR-135, BR-222, MA-404, MA-225, and
The National Park is quite extensive and has no access roads. Because of the nature of the park's protected status, most vehicles are not permitted access. Entrance to the park is made exclusively by 4-wheel drive trucks.
Lagoons in the "desert"
Composed of large, white, sweeping dunes, at first glance Lençóis Maranhenses looks like an archetypal desert. In fact it isn't actually a desert. Lying just outside the Amazon basin, the region is subject to a regular rain season during the beginning of the year. The rains cause a peculiar phenomenon: fresh water collects in the valleys between sand dunes, spotting the desert with blue and green lagoons that reach their fullest between July and September.The area is also surprisingly home to a variety of fish which, despite the almost complete disappearance of the lagoons during the dry season, have their eggs brought from the sea by birds.
Inhabitants
The national park status serves only as a means of protecting the area's ecology; consequently many people are park residents, as is also the case with nearby JericoacoaraJijoca de Jericoacoara
Jericoacoara is a virgin beach hidden behind the dunes of the west coast of Jijoca de Jericoacoara, Ceará, Brazil. Selected by the The Washington Post as one of the Top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world, nicknamed Jeri, consists of blue lagoons, calm seas and huge dunes.- Etymology :The name...
.
The inhabitants of the park work primarily as fishermen during the rainy season. During the dry season, many leave for neighboring regions to work small plots of land.