Monday morning was time to pack up and prepare to go our separate ways. My trip will change a lot now, as my dear traveling companion headed back home. Valerie took a few things back for me, and she headed to the airport in one cab at 3 o’clock and I in another, to the bus station, at 3:30.
I boarded the onibus for Lencois at 4:30 and luckily for me, it was not like driving up into the mountains in Colorado (I did have my plastic bag, just in case). I did procure a front seat and could watch the road in air-conditioned comfort while listening to Galaxy Quest, and then my buddy, Dan Savage, who has so much to teach every one of us….right Tay?
Lencois is a town of 9,000 and it sits just inside Chapada Diamantina, a very large, and some say the most beautiful, national park in Brazil. After large strikes in the region in 1844, prospectors from all over came looking for diamonds. The height of the boom was in the 1880’s, when most of the diamonds were bought by the French for drilling the Panama Canal. After that, the opportunistic French moved on to South Africa, but mining stayed active with the use of destructive water pumps, which were banned in 1995. Since then, miners have returned to more traditional methods. In 1985, the area was declared a national park.
After a fairly uneventful, but long 6-hour, journey, I arrived about 10:45 pm, and was met by a teenager holding a sign for me. The fellow across the aisle from me did share his tale of woe with me when he learned I spoke English: came to Salvador 4 years ago for Carnival, fell in love with a woman, and has been visiting twice a year since then. Mentioned how difficult it was to see her working so hard, going to school and still struggling while he could really do little to help her. Oh, dear.
I was met by Alcino, who owns and runs the pousada (guest house/ B&B)
and was shown to a sweet little room with the cutest setup for hanging clothes from the sloped ceiling:
Everything looks well-tended and lovely, but I’m too tired to investigate just yet. Buo noche!