Brasilia to Lençois, Bahia, Brazil 2 - 6 April 2006

Waterfalls galore in the Chapada Diamantina

We hoped again for an early start and Gérard drove us to the airport at 8 a.m. Even with the help of the Voetur handling agent it took a while to locate the only Infraero office (inside the secure area in the main terminal!!) who could prepare the bill with our fees on a Sunday. While the Infraero agent was reasonably quick to prepare the bill, it took about an hour to figure out how to print out the receipt! So we were only in the air 2 1/2 hours after we arrived, which meant landing at Lençois at 2 pm (IFR 3:27 hrs). So thanks to Infraero it was again afternoon flying in a tropical CB environment. Climb-out mostly in IMC, and at FL110 we could zig-zag between the tops of the CBs in comfort. By the time we arrived near Lençois, there was a mega-CB under development between Bom Jesus da Lapa and Lençois, which required a minor detour.
Lençois airport was small and friendly as we like it. We checked into the beautiful Hotel Canto das Águas in Lençois and spent the rest of the afternoon by their pool.

3 April. We spent the day hiking to our first two waterfalls near Lençois. It was a stinking hot day and it was a relief to bathe in the cool water. Lençois is a pretty old diamond mining town which hasn’t been ‘discovered’ in the same way as Ouro Preto. However, it does boast a few simple but good restaurants, generally run by young Brazilians who have escaped the big city life to settle there. We enjoyed a light lunch at Beco da Coruja, a small vegetarian restaurant, and a super Thai dinner at Cozinha Aberta.
 

4 April. We rented a little Gol car, and tried to visit a number of caves on our own using a good map. Well, suddenly the road disappeared into a river at least 2 metres deep. We had to turn back and make a 45 km detour on dirt roads before arriving at the Pratinha and Gruta Azul caves, only to find out that they were both closed due to high water levels. We finally made a tour of the Lapa Doce cave before the end of the afternoon. And after that, it was too late for the sunset at the Morro do Pai Inacio. Well, the sunset was not that great anyhow... by that time there were too many clouds.