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From the air, the sandy dunes and lagoons you see here gives Lençóis Maranhenses National Park a magical, desert-like appearance. Located in the north-east corner of Brazil, this park gets far too much rainfall each year – about 1,200 millimetres – to be considered a desert. In fact, heavy rain is part of what makes this place special: Nearly 70% of its annual rainfall comes between January and May, filling the park's nearly 40,000 lagoons to the brim with fresh rainwater. A layer of rock beneath the dunes prevents the water from sinking into the sand.
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