After a night on the bus, we showed up bleary-eyed in Lencois, about 250 miles inland from Salvador. It was just past 6 in the morning, and though we deserved a rest, we set out to gather provisions for a two-day hike. Lencois is an ideal jump-off point for hikers headed to La Chapada Diamantina National Park, a vast protected area full of green canyons and fresh, swimmable rivers. "Chapada" is a Brazilian word for a region of steep cliffs and plateaus, and "diamantina" refers to the diamonds that were discovered here over 100 years ago.