On our last morning in Lençois, in Brazil’s Chapada Diamantina (click here for my post on Chapada Diamantina) we came down to another amazing breakfast at Alcino’s (click here for my post on the best breakfast in Brazil). We were delighted to find two guys sitting at the table who spoke perfect English, who, it turned out, were the owner’s son and his friend. After chatting to them about Lençois and the places we had been they offered to take us to another of the area’s natural beauty spots, Ribeiräo do Meio, a series of swimming holes with its own natural waterslide.

The boys about to hit the water slide

I was quite excited as it was somewhere I’d been keen to visit. But as it was an hour’s walk to the south, and given that our flight was early that afternoon, I hadn’t wanted to risk us getting lost – we had no idea where to find this hidden gem. Luckily our new friends had a car and drove us out of town, although we still had about a 45 minute walk each way from where we parked to get to Ribeiräo do Meio. But as they had both grown up in Lençois and knew the area well we didn’t need to worry about finding the rock slide, which having seen the trails they took is something we definitely wouldn’t have been able to do by ourselves.

It’s a slippery slope down the natural water slide

I’m glad we did manage to get to Ribeiräo do Meio as despite its fame it’s a pretty peaceful spot. And a dip in the cool waters is exactly what you need after the trek to get there. What also makes Ribeiräo de Meio a hidden gem is of course its natural rock slide. I’m obsessed with waterslides (click here for my post on South America’s biggest waterpark) but I have to confess that I wimped out of trying this one out which I was gutted about as it did look lots of fun. In my defence the reason I didn’t give it a go was because the guys said you need to be careful climbing up as it’s very slippery. And as I’m a) quite clumsy and b) not a great swimmer I  thought it would be in everyone’s best interests for me to give it a miss.

Sharps in his element

Sharps was in his element though as they clambered up to the top of the rocky stones. The guys gave Sharps tips on how to go faster, the main one being pull your pants down a bit to create more friction on the descent, as there wasn’t much water. This resulted in Sharps exposing his white bottom to everyone (luckily we were practically the only people there and it was a missed photo opportunity) and getting covered in bruises, but he loved the experience.

Freshly squeezed sugar cane juice

Spending our last morning in Lençois at Ribeirao do Maio’s natural waterslide was the perfect way to end our visit to Chapada Diamantina. On route back to the car we sampled some local sugar cane juice, freshly crushed in a mangle by a man with a cart by the roadside and said bottoms up to Lençois’ hidden gem.