Country: Brazil

Antisana National Park Stops and Secas Lagoon Lunch

Strategic birding stops in Antisana National Park with lunch overlooking Secas Lagoon.

Trekking Lençois Maranhenses

Travessia Lençois 2025 is an easy six-day crossing of Lençóis Maranhenses for a group of six, beginning and ending in São Luís do Maranhão. After an evening briefing, a private vehicle takes us to Barreirinhas, followed by a private boat down the Rio Preguiças with a stop at Vassouras / Pequenos Lençóis. We continue to Canto de Atins for an afternoon 4x4 outing among the dunes and lagoons. The crossing then continues on foot: roughly 9–10 km from Duna da Bandeira to Baixa Grande, another 9–10 km to Queimada dos Britos / Paulos, and approximately 17 km to Betânia. Overnight stays are in simple hammock accommodations, with meals and support from local guides and families. The final day includes a 4x4 transfer to Santo Amaro for a last lagoon visit, lunch, and the return journey to São Luís, where the source places the end of the program at about 19:00.

Fotografia das dunas — Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses

Afternoon outing in the Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses by 4X4 from Canto de Atins, aiming to photograph the curves and shapes of the dunes and their green and blue lakes, with drone photography practice. The source highlights strong astrophotography opportunities in the isolation of Lençóis.

TBD — Redários de Canto de Atins

Unnamed local hammock accommodation in Canto de Atins during the crossing. The source names village redários but no specific property.

TBD — Hotel em São Luís do Maranhão

Unnamed hotel in São Luís do Maranhão for the late-night arrival and the return check-in around 19:00. The source lists two overnight stays in São Luís but does not name the property.

Canto de Atins

A dune-village support point on the Atlantic coast and the first local base for the Lençóis Maranhenses crossing, reached from Atins after the Rio Preguiças journey. The source describes hammock sleeping in village redários.

Santa Teresa

Spectacled Bear Watch at the Antisana Lower Feeders

The same lower stop carries one of the day's quiet hopes: an attempt to see the Spectacled Bear, one of the rarest mammals of this ecosystem, from the area of the hummingbird feeders. Sightings are a possibility rather than a promise — the attempt itself is part of what makes an Antisana day what it is.

Antisana Condors, High-Andean Páramo and La Mica Lagoon

The short road into the Antisana Ecological Reserve leads first to an observation platform, where the group scans the condor nesting walls with telescopes — one of the country's most important Andean Condor populations. The morning then works through the succulent, scrubby high-altitude vegetation for hummingbirds and high-Andean passerines before climbing into the Andean steppe of the páramo at almost 4,000 m, where diversity is low but every visible species is adapted to this particular ecosystem. A short walk along La Mica lagoon adds waterbirds to the day.