Thunder in the Silence

Lencois Maranhenses Dunes, Northeast Brazil.

A powerful thunderstorm darkens the sky over the dunes of Lencois Maranhenses National Park. I spent three days trekking barefoot fifty miles across the dunes in May, 2010. 'Lencois Maranhenses' or 'the sheets of Maranhao' are an immense coastal dunefield near the delta of the Amazon River. The drenching rains from powerful equatorial thunderstorms fill the depressions in the dunefield with crystalline fresh water lakes which makes the area unique among the great landscapes of the world. The dark shadows of passing storm clouds create spectacular patterns of light on the snow white dunes, illuminating the clear aquamarine lakes while cracks of thunder break the silence of the landscape, adding to the surreal beauty. I was utterly captivated by the delicate patterns in the sand, the tropical breeze, the silence, the star filled skies and the immense emptiness of this amazing land.