Tuesday morning we were met bright and early by our driver who drove us and two couples from São Paulo to Barreirinhas. The journey took just over three hours and went through some really poor communities. The people were living in really basic houses, trying to farm really poor land. Mostly it was sand, but lots of trees.

The town of Barreirinhas is also very poor – most houses seemed to consist of two rooms, the front one having a TV and sofa only, with bare, unpainted walls. After driving through the town, we arrived at our hotel which is a resort – somewhat different – it is a huge building with large outdoor pool!

Once we had checked in, we asked the receptionist to call out travel agency to find out what we were going to be doing. She explained that we were to be picked up in just over an hour and taken to the lagoons. So, we had some lunch, got organised and waited for our transport. This turned out to be an open jeep with rows of seats on the top. We climbed into the front row and headed off to collect some other people, then off into the National Park.

The journey in the park was very bouncy as there are no roads, just tracks through the sand. We all bounced around for a while, getting thoroughly bruised behinds, and finally arrived at the sand dunes. These are really impressive; what impressed me the most was how clean they seemed to be, with the pure cream colour against the blue sky.

We climbed up on of the dunes, and got an amazing view out across the park. On one side it is green, with lots of trees, and the other is sand dunes as far as you can see. We walked for a while then saw one of the lagoons. This was incredible – such amazing blue lakes, nestled in the sculpted shapes of the dunes. We visited four of the lagoons, including the lazy lagoon (you don’t have to walk far) and the blue lagoon where I had a swim. All of them were really beautiful; great colours and shapes.

After a while we walked back to our starting position and watched the sunset, listening to the wind as it blew the sand to fill in our footsteps. Finally it was time to go so we all climbed back into the jeep and bounced our way back to town.

Back at the hotel, we enquired about our plans for Wednesday, then went for dinner and good Chilean wine.

On Thursday we walked down to the pier and met our boat for the day. We were with the same people from the previous day, in a fairly narrow boat which motored through the river. We were travelling up the Rio Preguiça which is enormous – much like the Amazon. We motored for about an hour and a half, then began to see the sand dunes once more. We stopped at a small place where I climbed up onto the sand dunes to take yet more photos and admire the view of the dunes and back across the river. Then I climbed back down and watched the monkeys in the trees and the parakeets outside the small shop.

After another bit of motoring, we stopped at the small village of Mandacaru which had a lighthouse and lots of small shops selling baskets and jewellery made from tiny shells. I was quite thirsty so asked for a can of Guaraná Jesus. I had to wait for a bit while the man got a pickaxe in order to get the can out of the ice. We had a wander around, then went to Cabaré which was to be our lunch and final stop. Cabaré is a tiny place which basically consists of two pousadas. The one we were at had quite a large restaurant, a few rooms and a pool. We ordered lunch then crossed the sand to reach the sea! It was really rough and windy but the beach was huge and there were hardly any other people there. We had a walk for a while, trying not to get too wet, and watching some strange fish darting around in the waves, then went back for our Buzios Salad which was shrimps and pineapple served in half a pineapple. Tasty but a little strange.

After lunch and a caipivodka I went back to watch the sea again. I walked in the other direction this time, then just stood and watched the waves crashing on the sand until it was time to leave. We got into the boat once more and motored back to our hotel. At this point I looked in a mirror!!! To add to my sunburnt arms from Alcántara I added sunburnt calves, neck and windburnt face. This is what happens when you are sitting right at the front of a small open boat that is motoring along the river in the sun.

I had a refreshing dip in the pool but was then joined by two children who insisted on shouting up to their mothers on the 8th floor of the hotel, so retired to my room.

On Thursday morning I left Angie to a day exploring the town and relaxing by the pool while I went for my “Off-Road Adventure”. At the hotel there is a place to hire quad-bikes so I signed up. First I had to practice riding around the car park, getting used to the bike and the controls, then I met my guide – Heitor – and off we went.

We drove out of the hotel, crossed the road, and began our off-road trip. From here on there was no road, just tracks in the sand. We drove through the village, past a few children and various livestock sheltering from the sun. The houses here were very simple, but most had a TV and hammock. These must be the essentials for life here. We drove for about an hour, crossing bridges and riding through puddles. For a couple of them I needed to put my feet up on the top of the bike, but they still got wet! Habitation got less and less and then we arrived at the dunes.

The dunes were amazing; they were different from the other ones because there was more grass and soil in between them. We also saw goats, cows, donkeys and some wild horses, (cue Nike Kershaw song to repeat in my head). It was impressive that they found anything to eat, and there was no shade at all. I had naively thought that when we got to the dunes I would need to take off my shoes and socks to go for a walk but we simply drove straight up them. It was a great experience; I had to follow in Heitor’s tracks which were mostly clear but sometimes quite hard to see. I would stop for a moment to take a photo, look around and Heitor was gone! Then he would reappear someway off in the distance on the next dune.

After another hour we arrived in Vassouras. Yesterday we arrived by boat, today by bike across the dunes – a tad more dramatic. We stayed here for a couple of hours, having a sleep in the hammock, then lunch and more Guaraná Jesus. The monkeys were still around, along with a goat, some chickens and a couple of geese.

Then it was time to head back, so we got back on the bikes and set off again into the dunes. It was just as impressive this time, but we began with a couple of steep up-hills that Heitor had to do, with me on the back. Once, he got the bike to the top and left it for me to take over, but it was left in deep sand so it got stuck – twice. Heitor had to almost dig it out before we could continue. We drove back through the dunes, past the goats and cows, and back into the village. When we got to the hotel, I headed for the shower to try to get rid of some of the sand that I was coated with, and to get rid of the several kilos of sand in my shoes. I had a great time, I loved driving up and down the dunes, and just needed to wait to get the feeling back into my accelerator thumb.

Once I was sand-free (almost), Angie and I waited in the reception for our lift back to São Luís. Once back at the Bellagio we finished our bottle of wine, whilst enjoying the TV and crisps from the mini bar.