Days 4 and 5

On Friday morning we got up very early to head out of Sao Luis for a few days on a road trip.  We all met near the airport and then hit the road....the bumpy road, for the three hour drive.  We arrived and had lunch, since we cant read the menus we usually sit back and let our hosts order for us, we have not been disapointed yet.  We were greeted by the owners of the restaurant and stayed for several hours enjoying the food and the cervejas as well as the river.  From the restaurant our guide picked us up and we went on a ferry across the river.  There we boarded our truck (seated in the box of the truck on chairs).  After a 25 minute exciting ride through sand roads, mud puddles and lagoons we arrived at  Lencois Maranhenses National Park. It was Beatiful! We spent a few hours walking though the sand dunes and swimming in the fresh water.  We left as the sun was setting and raced the other trucks through the mud and sand to return back to the ferry.  Our rides were waiting for us when we returned and we drove about half way back to Sao Luis to a farm.  We were greeted at the farm by the owner Jose with tables with cervejas and bottles of his favorite whisky behind him.  It was apparent what the agenda was for the night!  The four of us were joined all day by Keiths host family, Jennys host family as well as Marcelo (a gse member for the brazil team who will be in Canada in may/June) and our new friend Cristiane, brenda's hosts niece.  We were again wined and dined and enjoyed good company and a lot of laughter into the wee hours of the morning. Both Marcelo and Cristiane speak English so they were able to translate all of Jose's jokes for us. 
We all stayed the night at the Farm, there were about 15 of us all in Jose's home.....it was quite a big place.  The kids and women had beds  inside and the men slept in hammocks outside.....we figured after the whisky that the men would be okay with the sleeping arrangements, and they were.
Today we awoke to more food, more cervejas and more whisky awaiting us.  We spent the entire day at the farm relaxing, touring the coconut plantation, visiting,and resting in the hammocks.  It rained and thunder stormed  all day so it was a perfect day to relax at the farm.  We are now back in Sao Luis and Are spending the evening with our host families.