Maranhão: Spectacular and Unique Landscape

Maranhão, a state in northeastern Brazil, is home to dense Amazon rainforest and beaches along the Atlantic Ocean. Near the city of Barreirinhas, vast white sand dunes create desert-like landscapes in the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, where freshwater lagoons suitable for swimming form during the rainy season. The capital, São Luís, features a festive historic district known as Reviver. The population is a mix of indigenous, black, and white races, reflected in the cuisine, handicrafts, and nearly every aspect of popular culture. With so much to offer, Maranhão is a unique and unmissable tourist destination.The state is divided into five tourist hubs, each with its specific attractions: (1) São Luís, the capital, where numerous festivals ensure a fun and educational outing; (2) Delta das Américas, an ecological paradise filled with rivers and streams; (3) Chapada das Mesas, perfect for adventure sports enthusiasts, with its gigantic natural sculptures; (4) Lençóis Maranhenses, the only desert in the world surrounded by crystal-clear lagoons; (5) Floresta dos Guarás, where lush mangroves host a huge diversity of reptiles, fish, and other animals. In this article, we highlight the two most well-known attractions: São Luís and Lençóis Maranhenses.

São Luís, the capital
São Luís is located in a transitional area (between Ceará and the Amazon, the hinterland, and other regions of northern Brazil) that hosts a vast variety of ecosystems. Therefore, exotic beaches blend with a lively carnival and the largest collection of Portuguese-origin architecture in Brazil, which in 1997 earned São Luís the title of UNESCO World Heritage Site, in recognition of the preservation of its magnificent and homogeneous Latin American colonial architectural ensemble from the 18th and 19th centuries. The city is particularly known for its tiles, with which most buildings in the historic center are covered. For this reason, the city is also called the “City of Tiles” and “Brazilian Athens”.It also has some cultural peculiarities, namely: • Tambor de Crioula: an Afro-Brazilian dance where joyfully dressed women court a drum ensemble. • Tambor de Mina: a local variant of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé.• Bumba Meu Boi: Just like the São João festival and its mandatory Forró dance in northeastern states, Bumba Meu Boi is a harvest festival, but with the bull as the centerpiece. In addition to these interesting cultural elements, tourists should pay attention to: the Historic Center of São Luís, the Convento da Mercês, the Museum of Black Culture, Praia do Calhau, and the city of Alcântara.Lençóis Maranhenses
Maranhão is best known for the Lençóis Maranhenses: a vast desert of immaculate white dunes (many of them dozens of meters high) with hundreds of rivers and crystal-clear lagoons – and beaches. A unique landscape that lasts for a few months after the rainy season. Composed of large, rolling white dunes, at first glance, the Lençóis Maranhenses appear to be an archetypal desert, but in fact, it is not a true desert. Located just outside the Amazon Basin, the region is subject to a regular rainy season early in the year. The rains cause a peculiar phenomenon: freshwater accumulates in the valleys between the sand dunes and is prevented from percolating down by a layer of impermeable rock that lies beneath the sand. The resulting lagoons, in shades of blue, green, and black, are surrounded by desert sand and reach their maximum level between July and September.Therefore, if you plan to visit Maranhão, the period between July and September is undoubtedly the best time of the year. There are several regular bus and truck routes between Barreirinhas, the city where the Lençóis are located, and São Luís, about 260 km away. There are also air taxis from São Luís to Barreirinhas. The National Park is quite extensive and does not have direct access roads. Due to the nature of the park’s protected status, most vehicles are not allowed to enter. Access to the park is exclusively by 4×4 trucks.