MY VERY TINY LITTLE OASIS IN THE SAND

Juçatuba is not THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN MARANHAO. I know this State quite alot to tell you with not even a fear to be mistaken, but at least Juçatuba is interesting and really beautiful spot, but it has something that I have never seen in my life!!!

After walking hours and hours under a fierce sun...in the sand when the sea literally is gone, there are some holes in the sand that pops up mineral water from amazing fresh water springs! We spent hours there!

The person who told me this secret is a little boy from JUÇATUBA, he helps his family with the local fishing activities and he decided to show me and Marcone all around, and he knows everythjing about this part of the island!!!

Juçatuba is part of a city called SÃO JOSE DO RIBAMAR, and this city holds the back side of São Luis' island. Next to Juçatuba we can find the beach PRAIA DA MOÇA where the holes can be found, and GUARAPIRANGA where we can find amazing islands, but it will be for the next trip!

Plan a trip to Maranhão...it is your chance to see a real profile of Brazil that very few travellers could experience.

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

NEXT INCREDIBLE DESTINATION ------ RAPOSA!!!! :)

For my conservative friends, do not worry, as a matter of survival this is the code dress in the wilderness of Maranhao: NO DRESS CODE!!!

So I trully apologyze to show you my "innocent stomach"....

The heat can be severe sometimes, the only good thing is that everywhere you go you wiull be always surrounded by water...

Raposa has the profile of the MARANHAO I LIKE and the exclusive way that I do have to show myt country to all of you.


Raposa has everything...desert and real enormous sand dune beaches, a real maze of mangroves and rain forest..it is one of the entrances of the famous gateways to the Amazon Region that head to Pará State, but these ways starts here in São Luis area and it ends way faraway in the heart of the Forest.

This region in my opinion is not only a Brazilian Territory, this region for me is a real planet because the distances are hard to reach...but not impossible!!!

Forget about facilities, here what we can do is visiting the little fishermen village and find a very experience boatman and hire their time and their boat, and believe me, once you made this contact you will have the best guides in the World. And I am happy to say that I learnt alot with this people!!!

I am grateful for two reasons: ONE they show me one side of Brazil that I still don't know and TWO, they play a very important rule in my work to promote a NON TOURISTIC side of such a wonderful country that Brazil is!


So I hired MESTRE RIBAMAR and his son RIBAMAR...Yes, this simple people of Maranhão has something sacred with this name, they are all called RIBAMAR...in honor of Saint Joseph, saint of this Land...Anyway...they were marvelous...we crossed the see to explore the dunes and the beach beyond...nature is sooo wild and we see all kind of ocean birds...the dunes remind us arabian deserts but after crossing the sand...no mirage...you have the whole ocean just for you!!!

I really recommend you to have a huge breakfast before you join me to Raposa...do not expect to find CAIPIRINHAS or to have an ice cream...There you will be blessed by a land still untouchable since way before the french and portuguese navigators. Actually you will feel yourself just like those first explorers!!!

Even when you come across with some locals..they look exactly like indigenous people...so you will have your JAMES COOK moment when you get there!!! hahahahaha : ))))))

Actually walking in the dunes make us realize that comparing to the nature we are just dark spots...and to find the beauty of Maranhao requires well prepared legs and brave spirit to walk...Just think that every sacrifice here is worthy, in the end of every walk, in the end of every challenge you will be blessed by breathtaking spots where god has the best of his Creation!!!

No, my name is not LUKE SKYWALKER and this is not a STAR WARS scenery...this is just the simple and absolutely gorgeous diverse neature of Maranhão, not so far from the city of São Luis; walking in the dunes demands some stops for you to rest and recover your energy to keep walking...

Something for sure, you will have enough places for incredible photos!!!

Back to the boat captained by MESTRE RIBAMAR we entered the amazing World of Manguezais (mangroves) and IGARAPÉ (flooded forests)...or this is the time when you see how incredible men survive...in this large corridors of water the main transportation are only boats...it is a sort of "amazon Venice" but in a veeeeeeeeeeery primitive version.

A little bucket in this situation is a "instrument of life" you cool off our head while you do not get to the virgin beaches of Taputiu.

Taputiu is a hidden village in the mangroves next to Raposa, the distance that we have to win is massive, we spend about more than one hour in the boat...the way is clored by different kind of trees, thick forests and endless quantity of amazing birds of the Amazon Fauna. If you are lucky you can spot some DOLPHINS as well.

MESTRE RIBAMAR never went to the school in his life and his dream is to give chances to his Son (also called RIBAMAR) to attend school. And Ribamar Junior told me in a secret way that he does not want to go to school, he wishes to learn the profession of his father because he is very proud of him...Actually this simple people that we would probably judge them like NON EDUCATED PEOPLE, they have the never ending wisdon of the nature and they know many things that make us "CITY PEOPLE" more ignorants than donkeys....Anyway....

Actually we know that these kids needs a better future...but indeed they love what they are doing and they get some decent money with fishing crab, very abundant in the region, and when the fishing season ends once in a while they rent their boat for very curious people like us to be able to visit and explore these unique and fantastic places that we hardly can find in the maps!!!

Humbly speaking I am one of the guides specialized in unique places...hehehehehe :)

But I would be nothing without the natives and I treat them so well.

I know, it will me more simple for you to remember names like Copacabana or Ipanema, and YOU never heard about TAPUTIU!!!!

Well, when we finally reached our destination, LITTLE RIBAMAR forgot his functions and turned into a normal child crazy to play with the water...indeed this is our only wish after crossing forests and forest under a NO MERCY SUN....

Again, Taputiu...one of the most fascinating beaches I have ever been in the wilderness of the Amazon, the Amazon Region is not only lots of long rivers, it is also the edge of the Atlantic when it bathes the coast of Maranhão, Pará and Amapá State. We can spend some hours having this wonderful wilderness like your own backyard.

When we got there, we found some people bathing their horses in the water just like me begging for some cool water.

Taputiu is for sure one of the most unknown places in my country, but I know how to get there...just one visit to RAPOSA area is a wonderful full day.

Well, it is possible, just write to me and we will discuss all the details and how to get there!

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

THE TEMPLE OF CULTURE - BAR DO LEO

From outside in a very local neighborhood of Vinhais, it is just a simply veggie market, but in the evenings it is a famous meeting point among the population of São Luis. Simply very unusual!!! The whole city love to go there, it is a very dmeocratic environment from the poorest to the richest, they all love going there to listen to great music coming from the amazing OWNERS COLLECTION OF RECORD PLAYERS AND CDs. People say he has one of the biggest music collection in Brazil.

Bar do Leo is for sure the most interesting bars that I have ever gone, most of my best friends in São Luis love going there to hang out and we stay there for us! The bar has its name because of the owner, his name is LEO, he is an old am who is an excentric music collections and he loves to be challenged. You have to write a note with the music you like, it has to be brazilian and quite rare and he will be really happy to find it in his collection and play it for you.

He will say not to dance, his music is to be listened...but the ambience is soooo exotic, full of old pieces of locals' art of Maranhão.

In my first night in São Luis in this trip, my good friend Shintia and Marcone's mother which is also a great friend of mine too, invited me for a great time at Bar do Leo. It is really a wonderful place for long conversations.

Going to Maranhão is a great opportunity I have to rest my mind and always experience local stuff which I do appreciate.



Shintia is my adorable friend and a very important reference in Maranhão, she knows places that she knows it will be interestings to my tours and she is the one who keep me updated about new places in the city. São Luis is growing faster than I thought and I strongly recommend all my guests when they come to Brazil not to miss this vibrant city!

As it is a very popular bar, Leo allows street arts to express the rich culture of Maranhão!

I am a great fan of local art and specially to see people's work, these artists who are not famous or recognized by these "arts expercts". I prefer to be an "amateur" admirer and see so many fabulous work, in the walls of Bar do Leo I can also practice my black and white photography and I can show you a little bit of this State's fantastic daily life and costums.

This whos the image of a SANFONEIRO, in the north east and north of Brazil this figure is very important, this is the main musical instrument of a very national rhythm called FORRÓ, played all over this part of Brazil. "Sanfoneiro" means Acordeon Player, and Sanfona means Acordeon in Brazil.

Leo was painted in the wall of his own Bar. He is a real character, very simply old man and very moody. The working time of his bar depends on how good he is or how bad he is. If he is angry for some reason be ssure that you will spend a very few time in his place. If he is happy you can stay there with your friends until late by 5:00 am!!! :)

He is indeed very proud about his music collection, he has more than 10000 long players, very old and rare ones. There are millions of LP collectors in the World, I can assure you that meeting Leo will be very important for you to change ideas about some rare pieces in Brazil and South America.

Bar do Leo has a big space in the Market...it is a sort of a very interesting "local museum" in São Luis. But it is indeed one of the most important cultural reference in the city. During the day it is a very interesting market in the neighborhood of Vinhais, together with another district called COHAMA, it is another very important middle class districts of the city!

Bar do Leo is by far my favourite bar in the State and it must be really one of the places that you cannot miss in any trip to Maranhão.

Rafael Torres Lopes

Tour Guide and Travel Planner

donrafainrio@yahoo.es

A TRIP TO WONDERLAND - LENÇOIS MARANHENSES

I have been to 18 States in the country and I can humbly say, this is with no shade of doubt that one of the most breathtaking places I have ever been is the LENÇOIS, as people name it, are simply SOMETHING OUT OF DESCRIPTION. Dunes, walking under a severe heat can be awarded by a great and fresh swimming in many of sparkling blue lagoons...Rain water only...fresh water...lagoons which simply arise and die according to the wish of Nature...There are enormous lagoons that never dry…it is an endless desert with magical pristine blue water oasis.

Words are useless to make you understand how unique and fabulous this region is...I can write a book here and I will never get close to describe such a beauty....I am very fortunate to witness one of the most fascinating landscapes of this Planet, maybe one of the most interesting places in this Universe...AND I AM NOT EXAGERATTING.... hahaha people always think I do

It is for sure one of the MUST SEE places in Brazil, few travellers have the opportunity to be there!!! Thanks to my great friend Marcone who helped me a lot to understand Maranhao and love this land as it is my own homeland, I could also take guests from overseas to see such a Paradise on Earth.

A trip to Maranhão is a trip to the “unknown”, and this trip can be very magical because for sure the Maranhenses Beauties will bewitch you and you will realize that Brazil will conquer your soul!

I thank god everyday for being Brazilian and I thank Brazil so deep inside to give me this incredible passion to carry on my work!!!

Of course that in the way we stopped to eat very fresh cashues...great when you are crying for water and a wonderful source of C vitamin. In the way you cross lots of CAJUEIROS trees, it also provides generous shades under extreme heat but do not worry, when you reach the refreshing lagoons, all the heat and all the sweat will desappear! :)))))

There are many entrances to get to LENÇOIS MARANHENSES, but the most adventurous and most impressive is from Santo Amaro, the access is very rough, you have to face many dirt and sandy roads and cross wetlands to get there using 4x4 vehicles. From a village called SANGUE you can take Toyotas. It is not a place that you can spend just one day, get prepared to spend at least two days in this gorgeous PARADISE. It will worth your sacrifice and all your concerns because once you reach the sand you will notice that you are closer to God.

Rafael Torres Lopes and Marcone Lima

Always finding ways for you to discover Brazil as a real traveller...

donrafainrio@yahoo.es