Date of Entry: July 31st 2016
Date of Writing:November 19th 2016
After a 8 hour short night bus inland from Salvador with Annie we arrive at around 4 in the morning to the sleepy little mountain town of Lencois. We quickly walk through the dark streets of this charming place used mainly as a touristic base for access in to Chapada Diamantina national park and find someone waiting at our chosen hostel: Viela Hostel (12 USD for a dorm bed.). We’ve agreed to pay half a night’s fee to be allowed to check in and are quickly shown to a dorm. Sadly for me sleep doesn’t come.
By the time Annie wakes up I’m raring to go and we head out for a brief exploratory walk through town and to the hills above it. I’ve got a manchester united game to get back for though the low quality of wifi available in Lencois will make it hard to stream much. We head up through the streets and directly into the hills, cutting off the road and eventually off the path to traverse the strange swaths of smoothed hilly bedrock that make up this unique geological region. It’s quite beautiful, even with my fatigue starting to set in.
As we keep ascending we pass through some narrow crevaces between massive weathered boulders, exploring every nook and cranny and marvelling at the unique marking patters in the stone. It’s quite fun. I also perform some fun jumps with only one minor fall so go me. Annie mocks my general lack of grace and overall clumsiness.
As we continue upwards trying to find some rumoured waterfalls further up in the hills which are getting greener and greener by the minute. I find a lizard friend as we go and snap a few photo’s while Annie climbs some facades I don’t have the nerve to. It’s not because I’m a coward, more because she’s a show off.
Eventually, we hear the sound of water, and follow it to a small but babbling brook which we cross and follow upwards hoping it might lead us to the waterfall. It’s the height of dry season here, but it’s also getting warm so I’m thrilled when we find the trickling falls, the crisp cool water stumbling over the brown cliffs. During wet season I have a feeling the falls might be a tad more impressive, but as it stands now they are still very refreshing and I’m thrilled as I peel off my shirt and go for a swim.
From here it’s almost time for my match so we both decide to head back into town back over the strange rolling landscape of smoothed rocks. As we pass into town we pass one of the roughest looking cats I’ve ever seen and I grab a delicious tapioca from a place around the corner from our hostel. If you don’t know what tapioca is just come to brazil and get two. One with bananas and nutella, and one with cheese and more or less any other savoury ingredient you might want. They are delicious, even if these ones aren’t as good as the home cooked ones Renata makes for me. Everyone in Lencois is super friendly which seems to be par for the course in north eastern Brazil.
Back at the hostel I end up falling asleep watching a very intermittent stream of united, but once I wake up I meet Tobias (swiss) and Isabella (german/austrian ( Isabella I’m sorry I’ve forgotten) who are both awesome people and some other folks and end up booking a tour through our friend Abraham who hangs out at the hostel. He gives us a great discount and we spend the night playing cards. Let me rephrase that. Annie spends the night losing at cards to me. I spend the evening brutally beating Annie and all challengers at cards and we go to sleep excited to know that tomorrow we’re heading to Cachoeira Fumaça Brazil’s second tallest waterfall. For dinner I do my best Renata impression and make tapioca for everyone. I guess I’m truly becoming a Brazilian.
