Bedsheets of Maranhao
Perpetual winds reshape the dunes of Lençois Maranhenses (the “Bed-sheets of Maranhão”), a desert that extends across 1550 sq. kms., north east of Brazil. Between January and July rainfall will come, filling seasonal ponds nestled between a patch-work of dunes.
I walked 80 Kms, barefoot or with flip-flops across these dunes. The sand felt sometimes hard, sometimes soft, sometimes hot and others cold; the early morning and the late afternoon were the times I could traverse. The mid-day sun was biting, and not a single shadow could be found miles around, just the eyes of water would cool me down for an instant.
For a few days I walked into this Dali-like painting, where surrealism comes to reality, where life and death merge together. Stillness is a mirage; everything is moving, dynamic and alive, even though in appearance it looks quiet and immobile. But the desert advances merciless over anything that stands on its way, roaring silently, promising death to vegetation that has been for years shaped by the non stop winds of the Atlantic. Terrifying beauty.
