4x4 trips
To the lagoons.
Otávio Nogueira from Fortaleza, BR — CC BY 2.0 · Otávio Nogueira from Fortaleza, BR — CC BY 2.0 · FernandoSantos — CC BY-SA 3.0 · FernandoSantos — CC BY-SA 3.0 · FernandoSantos — CC BY-SA 3.0 · FernandoSantos — CC BY-SA 3.0 · MTur Destinos — Public domain · FernandoSantos — CC BY-SA 3.0
Barreirinhas is a town on the Preguiças River in northern Maranhão, nicknamed the «Gateway to the Lençóis Maranhenses» because most trips into the famous national park of towering white dunes and blue lagoons, the «Brazilian desert», start here. Indigenous peoples once lived in the area; in the eighteenth century the Jesuits set up a farm here, and in the nineteenth villages grew up around the pastures and farmland along the rivers until Barreirinhas became a town. The municipality now has over sixty thousand people and a small airport. The town has many hotels, guesthouses and restaurants. From here 4x4 vehicles set out on the lagoon circuits, boats head down the Preguiças River to Vassouras, Mandacaru and Caburé, and light aircraft take sightseeing flights over the dunes. On the riverbank in town there are small dunes and restaurants overlooking the water, making it a comfortable base between trips.
To the lagoons.
Boat trips.
Over the dunes.
On the Preguiças River, northern Maranhão
At least three for the two lagoon circuits and the river trip.