LENÇÓIS

Lençóis, a small colonial town which lies in the gorgeous, wooded mountain region of the Chapada Diamantina, is steeped in the history of the ‘garimpeiros’ (prospectors) who came to the area looking for diamonds after they were first discovered in the Rio Mucugê in 1844. Since that time they have worked the mines manually in alluvial deposits. The diamonds in the Chapada Diamantina were formed millions of years ago when Bahia was joined to Africa before the continental drift.

The diamonds were mixed with pebbles in the shallow inland sea which covered the area millions of years ago and trapped in the conglomeration when it turned to stone. When the Chapada Diamantina was formed and this layer of conglomerate stone was elevated the forces of erosion released the trapped diamonds which came to rest in the riverbeds.

The Chapada Diamantina

The Chapada Diamantina part of the elevated Sincora ridge creating an oasis of green in the dusty sertão. There are many small towns which started as tented camps and grew with the diamond boom to wealthy cities. Although there are many stories of fortunes made through the diamond trade, the money was mostly generated through industrial stones, not display-quality diamonds. Diamonds from the region are known to have been used to drill the Panama Canal and London Underground, the French were also known to buy many diamonds in the area and built a vice consulate in Lençóis. For a time Lençóis was the height of fashion and one of the wealthiest towns in the Northeast. However, the depletion of diamonds, and the newly discovered South African mines brought about the subsequent fall in diamond prices on the international market and combined with the abolition of slavery the boom came to and end at the beginning of the 20th century. The town's economy barely survived the last 80 years, until the 1980’s saw the beginning of the dredge mining using powerful and destructive water pumps to wrench diamonds from the riverbeds. This caused more destruction in 15 years than the manual mining caused in 150 years. The 1980 also saw the beginning of tourism. 

The natural beauty of the region, great hiking to peaks, waterfalls and rivers, and the tranquillity of the small, colonial towns has attracted a steady trickle of travellers for several years; some have never left. These new residents have spearheaded an active environmental movement that successfully lobbied the government to declare the region a national park. The Parque Nacional da Chapada Diamantina was signed into law in 1985 to protect the natural beauty of the area. The park is made up of 1520 sq km of the Sincora range of the Diamantina plateau, in a rectangle formed by the cities of Lençóis and Mucugê, Palmeiras and Andaraí. The park has several species of monkeys, wild cats and other mammals and a huge diversity of birds and insects as well as beautiful views, clean waterfalls, rivers and streams, and an endless network of trails. Its flora boasts a large variety of bromeliads, orchids and many other plants endemic to this region. The area is also holds particular interest to geologists who will appreciate the huge diversity of lime stone quartz and sandstone formations in the region especially seen in one of the largest caves in South America. 

If you want to see something different, and have time for only one excursion into the North-eastern interior, this is the one.