Cachoeira da Fumaca- The Smoke Waterfall...

Bom Noite,

 

Ozell and I were in Lencois about a week ago now, but we haven't written a post about the trek we took when we were there.  The reason Lencois is still an economically viable town today is because it has switched from mining diamonds to servicing eco-tourism.  It is outside the Chapada Diamantina national park.  Visitors can hike, kayak, or climb along with many other activities inside the park and surrounding areas.  There are many tour companies offering guides and equipment.  We decided to take a day trek to Cachoeria da Fumaca with a company affiliated with our hostel.

 

The trail head was 70 km or so from Lencois.  We rode in a bare bones Land Rover- 50 km on paved roads; then another 20 km on dirt roads.  On the way there, I rode in the back with the guide.  Ozell was kind enough to switch places with me on the return trip.  I couldn't see anything from the back of the Land Rover because of the covering and the height of the seats compared to the windshield.  We picked up a hitch hiker and then dropped him off down the road.  We arrived at the trail head in a little over an hour.

 

The trail head is near another small town- very small.  I don't remember the name, and it is in the middle of nowhere.  Allegedly, it is some of the most expensive real estate in Bahia.  Our guide said that you could buy a house and property in the Lencois area for $5-$10 per square meter.  Here is this little town, the same would cost you $50 or more.  The reason is that the little village has made a name for itself in the international outdoor enthusiast community.  It draws nature lovers and hippies along with some artists and artisans.  It is remote enough that it is self policing and out of reach of formal law enforcement.  It has a utopian commune vibe to it, and that is what draws people to live there.  And I think it has to be the community itself which draws the people because in my humble opinion Chapada Diamantina is pretty, but not all that spectacular.  I have seen plenty more beautiful natural areas in my opinion.  The region does have its merits of course.  The Smoke Waterfall is one of them.

 

The trek to Cachoeira da Fumaca (Waterfall of Smoke) was rewarding itself.  It was nice to breathe the clean air.  The hike was pretty rigorous especially the first hour which was spent walking steeply uphill.  At the top, there was a flatter plain contained within two ridge lines.  The vegetation was not unlike native vegetation in San Diego with semi-arid scrub brush and grasses.  One thing that both Ozell and I noticed right away was very little amount of soil at the top.  There was bedrock exposed everywhere.  This explained why this relatively small drainage basin could generate enough water to produce a waterfall.  There was no place for the rain that did fall to seep into the ground.  In fact, we saw many standing pools and trickles of water during our hike.  Most were just enough to keep the sandy soil moist in their vicinity.

 

After about another half hour of walking, we reached the opposite ridge from the one we ascended.  This is where the only veritable stream in the area flowed straight off a cliff.  And what a cliff it was!  The drop is about 420 meters (1300 feet).  This is the highest waterfall that I have seen live.  What made the view of the waterfall even more interesting is that the only way to get a good view was the lie down at the edge of the 1300 feet drop and stick your head over the precipice.  It was a great view.  And when I looked straight down long enough, it started to play with my head.  Very nice.  Like doing a nitrous hit but without frying the neurons.  Ozell took a look too.

 

They call it the "Smoke Waterfall" because the drop is so large that the water tends to atomize and form a smoky mist before ever hitting the bottom.  This mist is blown about by the wind and updrafts.  It forms really cool rainbows.  It also forms very neat vortices, stream lines, and turbulent flows that only a fluid dynamics dork like myself would find sublimely appealing.

 

After eating lunch with the view of the deep valley as our backdrop, we heading over to the other side of the waterfall to catch the view from there.  Then is was time to head back the 1.5 hours on the trail.  It was hot all day and we expended a fair amount of sweat so our treat was to go to another nearby waterfall.  This waterfall was much more typical in scale and had a nice swimmin' hole to along with it.  We cooled off in the dark water there before riding back into Lencois in the later afternoon.

 

Check out the Fumaca Waterfall picture album for the photos of the hike and waterfall.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean