I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I state that the restaurante da Luzia is a truly unique place. You will soon understand why. Getting there is quite an adventure. The easiest leg of the journey involves getting to São Luís do Maranhão, a three or four-hour flight depending on where you are in Brazil. In São Luís you will board a bus that will take you to Barreirinhas in four hours. Then you will take the boat that goes down the river Preguiças as far as Atins - a five-hour navigation. In Atins you will drench yourselves on sunblok and after a two-hour treck you will reach an isolated hut in the middle of the dunes with an unconscipicuous sign at the door that reads: “Restaurante da Luzia”.

Luzia lives with her husband and offspring on a hut in the middle of the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park. She was already there when the park was created, and now the authorities want to remove her from her home. There is no electricity or running water. A few tables are her dining room. One day a tourist that had lost his bearings appeared at the hut, and she cooked for him. It was an instant success. Since then, her prawns are a powerful magnet that attracts the few visitors that reach the remote area. Even the best description of the delicacies Luzia prepares wouldn’t do justice to her cooking. I won’t even try. The only way of paying her back is to recommend a visit to her restaurant. You can arrive there in the morning, book your lunch (there are only three tables, you have to order your dish so she can cook it beforehand), and go for a shortish trek around the nearby dunes.

Luzia also offers acommodation, including a few hammocks. Luxury you will not get. But at R$5 the night slept on the hammock (2006), you couldn’t really ask for more.

subscribe to the Brazil Travel Blog by Email
follow the Brazil Travel Blog on Twitter

NAME: pousada do Paturi

WHERE: Caburé, Maranhão

WEBSITE: www.pousadadopaturi.com.br

IN ENGLISH: no

PRICES ON THE WEBSITE: yes

LOCATION: between the river Preguiças and the Atlantic ocean.

THE BUILDING: two rows of chalets around a central patio and the dining room. The pousada is surrounded by sand in all directions, and during the windy season the staff of the pousada spends the day cleaning the sand from the patio.

THE ROOMS: bare and simple, with an electric fan and a bathroom (no hot water).

PRICES IN JUNE 2006: We paid R$75 the room, it was low season.

BREAKFAST: included in the price. Acceptable, given the extreme conditions and isolation of Caburé.

FOOD: the pousada has a restaurant where abundant food is prepared. Considering the limitations imposed by the lack of fresh vegetables, the restaurant provides an excellent chance to feast on freshly caught fish.

RECEPTION: very friendly. After a few days, we were treated as if we were part of the family.

OUR OPINION: those looking for luxury and comfort should not get anywhere near Caburé. For those after a remote place, far away from the world, where there are no computers, mobile phones or cars (only the pousadas’s 4-wheel drive), Caburé is an unbeatable place. The rooms are very simple and provide just the basics for a quiet rest. The luxury of Caburé is its location and landscapes. Nature at its purest. Paturi, the owner of the pousada, is a remarkable character, whose reputation is known throught the state of Maranhão.

subscribe to the Brazil Travel Blog by Email
follow the Brazil Travel Blog on Twitter

I am presenting my very own personal list of 10 moments lived in Brazil filled with emotion. They do not follow any particular order.

1. a huge turtle (up until then you had never stopped to think how large turtles can be) swimming placidly next to you, in complete silence; suddenly a shoal of fish swims by right in front of you while you approach a sunken ship where thousands of colourful fish rejoice. Diving in Noronha has to be one of the most intense experiences you can live in Brazil.
   
2. up to four or five dolphins jumping out of the water simultatenously, while dozens of them follow the small boat from where you contemplate the amazing display. Encountering dolphins in Noronha is joy at its purest.
3. in spite of the pushing and shoving; of the endless queue of tourists all waiting to take exactly the same snapshot in front of the statue, arms opened; in spite of the awful mood of the professional photographers; in spite of the street vendors; when you reach the balcony of the Corcovado mountain and the whole of Rio unfolds in front of your very own eyes, your heart and mind are transported somewhere else.
   
4. the ceaseless rhythm of the percussion, the tune you will not stop humming even after you’ve gone to sleep, the festival of colours and dazzling costumes, the bumba-meu-boi festival in São Luís is pure magic.
   
5. from the top of the sunset dune in Jericoacoara there is a terrific panoramic view of the sea and the dunes. When the moon is full, it will appear right at the same time as the sun goes down, turning the experience into an unforgettable moment.
   
6. think of the wildest rollercoaster your mind can imagine and then take all safety devices out of the picture. That’s what a buggy ride on the Genipabu dunes feels like. Your stomach will turn, you will bid farewell to friends an family endless times, you will swallow tons of sand, and your heart will be tested to the limit.
   
7. everything in the village is special, but watching the sun go down behind the Serra do Mar from the harbour in Paraty is an unforgettable moment that can open the door to never-ending passions.
   
8. an endless succession of dunes and green lagoons, absolutely no one around, the merciless sun being your only companion. A walk through the Lençóis Maranhenses is intense to the extreme.
   
9. there is something unreal about that intense red colour. Because of that, contemplating the scarlet ibises near the Baronesa beach in Alcântara is an activity where the notion of time quickly vanishes.
   
10. the roaring of the waters and its spray are felt from afar, but the real power of the place is only truly manifested when you reach the mighty Devil’s Throat at the Iguazu Falls. Don’t be surprised should you find yourself leaning dangerously towards, such is the power of the enchanment [the observation deck for the Devil's Throat is actually in Argentina, but most of what you see from there it's on Brazil].
    

I want to close my list with a very special emotion, that can be experienced anywhere on Brasil, but only once in a long while. In terms of strong emotions, few things can compare to the explosion of joy that follows the conquest by Brazil of a soccer World Cup. The last time it happened I was lucky to be here to witness it, it was 2002.

Here are all the Top 10 lists published in the blog so far.

Time does fly! It’s now a year since we went to Maranhão. I’d like to take the opportunity to leave here an index to the information published since then on São Luís do Maranhão and the Lençóis Maranhenses. It is June, after all, a very special month for the region, as it is now when the festas juninas and the bumba-meu-boi festival take place:

• Destination: São Luís
• Destination: Lençóis Maranhenses
• Destination: Caburé
• Bumba-meu-boi
• video: festas juninas in São Luís
• pictures of the Lençóis Maranhenses
• pictures of the ceramic tiles of São Luís
• pictures of Caburé
• pictures of bumba-meu-boi
• pictures of scarlet ibis in Alcântara
• restaurante da Luzia, Atins

[UPDATE: Maranhão, images of a Brazilian paradise]

Regular readers of the blog know I have a soft spot for that awesome and wonderful placed called Lençóis Maranhenses. I am working now on an audiovisual presentation of our trip to the area (like the ones I have already published on the Zu Lai temple and the Festas Juninas in São Luís).

Regulars of the blog also know that once a week I like to publish pictures of my adventures around Brazil. And because the pictures I am publishing today portray a very special place, they come in six!

June is the perfect month to visit the Lençóis and São Luís, and in the coming days I hope to complete a series of entries on the Maranhão region.

[read the 2010 update: 10 must-see places in Brazil]

This is a list of my top 10 favourite places in Brazil. It only includes places I have visited – for that reason you will not find on the list potential jewels such as Ilha Grande. Click on the names of the places to find out more about them.

1. Fernando de Noronha (Pernambuco)

Noronha is where you will find the most beautiful beaches in the whole of Brazil, and crystal-clear waters of unparalleled beauty. A place like no other in Brazil.

2. Paraty (Río de Janeiro)

Atlantic rainforest, desert beaches and the best preserved colonial architecture in the country come together to make of Paraty a very special destination. On top of that, Paraty is close to Rio and São Paulo.

3. Lençóis Maranhenses (Maranhão)

While it’s not easy to get to the Lençóis, the reward more than makes up for the long journey. A unique landscape of dunes and lagoons where mass tourism hasn’t left its mark yet.

4. Jericoacoara (Ceará)

Another destination with a nearly-mythical status among travellers. Captivating sand dunes in a remote setting.

5. Iguazu falls (Paraná and Argentina)

The breathtaking beauty of the falls will captive you the moment you set your eyes on them.

6. Arraial d’Ajuda (Bahia)

Hard to believe you would find a charming place like Arraial d’Ajuda so close to Porto Seguro.

7. Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro)

Rio is a city like no other, not just in Brazil, but throught the world. Its serious problems do not allow for a higher place on the list.

8. Bonito (Mato Grosso do Sul)

In the southernmost point of the Pantanal lies Bonito, a mecca for ecotourism and fun in close contact with nature.

9. Trancoso (Bahia)

Trancoso is near Arraial d’Ajuda and shares with its neighbour a series of wonderful beaches and a relaxed atmosphere.

10. Ouro Preto (Minas Gerais)

In spite of the sorry state of conservation of its World Heritage, Ouro Preto makes it to the top 10 because of the truly mesmerizing historical riches found in its churches.

MyMaps!: mash-up that will allow you to locate of all the places listed above at GoogleMaps!

subscribe to the Brazil Travel Blog by Email
follow the Brazil Travel Blog on Twitter
follow the Brazil Travel Blog on Facebook