The Island

Aurideia Brito pumps water to prepare breakfast in her house in the Queimada dos Britos. Even during the harsh summers, they can pump water making it possible to live surrounded by desert. In Queimada dos Britos around 60 people live, but the locals are not sure, since there is always someone going away or coming back. They live of fishing, which is two hours away. In the winter they breed fish on the lagoons, and cattle and goats that run free on the dunes. They have a small garden for farming but nothing major since they are afraid of the accelerating advance of the dunes that have already covered several houses. No one really knows when the village was founded but the legend says that the founder Manuel Brito, when running away from home due to a drought that was scorching his homeland, he ended up settling down in the only non-sandy portion of the Lençois.

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Filename: EL__2014_TheIsland_04.jpg
Copyright: Eduardo Leal/4SEE
Image Size: 3780x2520 / 5.3MB; www.4seephoto.com; Brazil Dunes Maranhão lençois do maranhão south america
Contained in galleries: Brazil - The island, oasis in Lençóis do Maranhão

Aurideia Brito pumps water to prepare breakfast in her house in the Queimada dos Britos. Even during the harsh summers, they can pump water making it possible to live surrounded by desert. In Queimada dos Britos around 60 people live, but the locals are not sure, since there is always someone going away or coming back. They live of fishing, which is two hours away. In the winter they breed fish on the lagoons, and cattle and goats that run free on the dunes. They have a small garden for farming but nothing major since they are afraid of the accelerating advance of the dunes that have already covered several houses. No one really knows when the village was founded but the legend says that the founder Manuel Brito, when running away from home due to a drought that was scorching his homeland, he ended up settling down in the only non-sandy portion of the Lençois.