January 20, 2012: I
have been traveling with a group of backpackers ranging from anywhere from 7 to
11 people the past 5 days – a rarity for me.
In some aspects it can really make travel a lot easier traveling in a
flock of sheep, there is no need to think about anything if you don’t want to…you
just follow the person in front of you.
I really enjoyed my trip getting to Atins – a fishing
village with a population of 250 people.
From the bus, to the 4x4 then transferring to a local fishing boat…it
was all quite amazing. We came here to visit
Lencois Maranhenses National Park which contains about 500 square kilometers of
rolling white dunes. I cheated before
coming here and did a search on Google Images of the park to help me decide if
I should come here or just continue on to San Luis. This defiantly ruined the anticipation but
also creating a higher expectation, since it is not common for someone to post
their worst photos of somewhere they go - unless they are legally blind, under
the age of 6 or past the age of 80. With
this said, when visiting the national park, it looked nothing like the photos on
the internet - sort of like certain individuals profile photos on facebook.
Separating from the flock, I took the local 4x4 leaving at 4:00am. By the time we left Athins, we had 10.8% of
the population in the 4x4. The vehicle
was designed to fit perhaps 14 people comfortably…there was 28 people - that
includes those on the roof and hood of the truck. Fighting not just to stay on, but to take my
whipping like a man as the branches would tear across the side of the truck
down the narrow road when not in the open dunes. To reduce the odds to not have any detours to
the local medical facility, I placed my backpack with my computer and camera in
front of me to protect my internal organs.
When reaching the ferry, the 4x4 Toyota was like a real life
Transformer, transforming from a truck into a submarine as it submerged itself in
the water to make it to the ramp of the vessel.
I never knew a vehicle could go that deep in the water and continue to
run - I wonder how deep I could get in my Volkswagen before needing an
insurance claim.
Once in the town of Barreirinhas I took a 3.5 hour ride in a
collective taxi to San Luis – the reggae capital of Brazil. During our ride the driver seemed to be
catching brief moments of sleep. I asked
another passenger in the car who also spoke English, if they could speak to the
driver to keep him awake. Two seconds
after saying that the driver leans over, grabbing his sunglasses and puts them
on. For someone who claims that he doesn’t
understand English, I wondered the validity of his claim.
I don’t know if I will ever understand the need for someone
to perform a pass on a blind curve. My driver
didn’t do it…it was someone else that was performing this feat of stupidity. If it wasn’t for 1 extra second, we would have
been in major accident. Today 1 second =
5 lives. I really like seconds - actually,
today…I LOVE seconds.
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