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The most exciting flight
over the Lençois Maranhenses
We were quite exhausted when we arrived, but luckily Kimiko managed to find us accommodation in the hotel Preguiças in the center of Barreirinhas. At night we sat down and started studying the numerous sites, sports and adventure related activities in the region. We discovered that kiteboarding had only been practiced in Atins, a fishing village about two hours away from Barreirinhas, and that no one had ever received permission to kiteboard in the lagoons inside the Lençois Maranhenses. We spoke to the authorities of the IBAMA, the Brazilian organization responsible for the protection of the environment, and to our satisfaction, they granted us permission to go kiting in the less-visited lagoons located far away from the tourist areas. The only problem was that we did not know which of the thousands of the lagoons would offer appropriate conditions for our sport, and it would take us months to find out since the use of vehicles in the park itself is not permitted due to environmental concerns and preservation of the fauna, lagoons, and sand dunes. This would mean that we would have to check the lagoons by foot…carrying all the equipment…and all that along the 155 K hectares of sand dunes and lagoons… impossible! So how could we do this in the most effective way without loosing too much time?
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After brainstorming many different ideas, we found out that Barreirinhas has an airport from which chartered planes could fly you over the park of Lençois. This would definitely be the best way to search for the right lagoon. Fortunately for us, Kimiko managed to organize a little plane to take us on a thirty-minute ride over the park the next day. We woke up early in the next morning, made sure the batteries of our camcorders and cameras were charged, and drove to the airport. Kimiko had already organized the flight with a local pilot and we only had to jump in and enjoy the ride. We boarded, the engine started, we unpacked our filming gear and as soon as we were airborne could not believe what we were seeing. It was so unbelievable that we struggle to find words that justly describe the beauty and ruggedness of this natural area.
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We flew over the city of Barreirinhas first, and after three minutes we could already see the endless sand dunes and the formation of the lagoons on the horizon. The excitement in the plane grew considerably when we finally flew over the sand dunes and some of the lagoons. No words were spoken; we could not believe that we would be able to go kiting there. I mean, there is not much I can tell you except to look at the pictures and try to discover for yourself what this place is really about. For us, however, one thing is for sure, and it is that this is one of the most scenic, natural, beautiful, rugged, and unique places in the world, so much so that it becomes difficult to say whether there is anything similar in any other place on our planet.
We filmed and photographed the entire flight…so many dunes, so many beautiful lagoons, and so much beauty. What a location…we almost forgot about selecting the appropriate lagoon for kiteboarding since they all seemed perfect.
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When we flew over the though, we finally had found the best ones. The location and the formation of these lagoons seemed to be perfect due also to the predominant eastern wind directions of this region. From the plane we could also see the ocean and the fishing village Atins, which as we heard was supposed to have perfect conditions for us¯endless white beaches, clear water, and strong winds.
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