A PATH THROUGH THE JUNGLE

Let me first explain why there are no pictures with this report. As I mentioned in the previous post, there was a problem with a virus on my camera memory card - which I eventually had sorted out today. Subsequently, while I was out of my (locked) room, the camera card together with 2 other storage cards disappeared from the room - all the thousands of pics I´d taken in South America gone! Anyway, let me start where I left off last time. At the Bolivian border I got a nasty surprise, I had to pay 50 US Dollars for a 30-day visa. At least Bolivia is a lot cheaper than Brasil, and I found a crumby room where I lay for a couple of days trying to recover from flu. When I eventually got on the road, I found it to be a pleasantly quiet newly-paved road (and mostly quite flat compared to the previous month´s roller-coaster). There was only one section about 200 km before the city of Santa Cruz where construction was still in progress. So I´ve been in Santa Cruz for a couple of days, resting and trying to recover from the flu which I´ve been unable to shake off. So far Bolivia seems to be rather out of place in South America - it reminds me a lot of certain African countries, or even some of the poorer East Asian places such as Laos. I´ll leave here tomorrow morning, heading for the big hills of the Andes once more. Needless to say, I´m very disappointed at the loss of all those photo´s. I did report the incident to the tourist police, but I doubt if that will do any good (the language gap was a problem, they didn´t even have a vehicle and would need to take a taxi to the hotel and investigate). Daily distances cycled since my last report have been:- Quijarro 11 km; El Carmen 108 km; Robore 143 km; Chochis 46 km; San Jose De Chiquitos 97 km; Tintas bush camp 130 km; Pailon 99 km; and Santa Cruz 69 km. The total distance cycled so far in South America is 11 497 km. The total so far on this trip is 77 984 km.

THE PANTANAL

(Sorry, no pics due to a virus on my camera memory card - the joys of using public internet facilities!). Since leaving Campo Grande it has taken me 5 days to reach the Bolivian border at the town of Corumba. I don´t know where the geometric centre of South America is, but I guess that I´m not too far away from that point. I´d expected the terrain to be flat for a change, but 3 of these days turned out to be the usual hilly road. The other 2 days I spent cycling along the elevated road with the Pantanal wetlands stretching out on either side of me. This area is Brasil´s premier ecological tourist attraction, with lots of birds and other wildlife around. Traveling by bicycle I´ve surprised many animals crossing the road or just hanging around close by, but they refuse to keep still and by the time I have the camera out they´ve taken off in a hurry. I don´t want to appear morbid, but the only mammals I´ve seen which have kept still are a variety of road-kill (including the giant rodent, anteaters, cayman and large snakes). At least I´ve managed to snap some Macaws, and the rest of the wildlife is depicted on the murals from the hostel in Campo Grande. For some reason border towns have to be dusty, and Corumba is no exception in that regard. I don´t need dust right now as I left Campo Grande with a sore throat which soon turned into a flu and bronchitis (hopefully I can shake some of that off with the day´s rest at this hostel in Corumba). Tomorrow I head into another country, Bolivia (I´m a bit unsure of the road for the first few hundred kilometres, so it could take a while before my next report). Distances in the 5 days since Campo Grande have been:- Palmeiras 92 km; Taunay 95 km; Guaicurus 68 km; Porto Morrinho 117 km; and Curumba 75 km. Distance cycled in South America so far is 10 789 km. Total distance cycled on this journey so far is 77 276 km.

CUTTING ACROSS BRASIL

If Brasil was a cake that one could cut across, then the baker must have messed up the icing - it is very hilly! Since leaving Leana behind in Rio De Janeiro, I´ve cycled 1700 k´s West for 19 days on the trot. Yesterday afternoon on Friday the 13th I dragged my depleted self into the city of Campo Grande, and I´m now taking a break in the Hostel Campo Grande. Only once along the way did I book into a room (on day 4 I went into the town of Barbacena in search of a supermarket, bike shop, and internet cafe - the cheap hotel where I stayed laid out the best breakfast ever!). Other than that I camped mostly at truck stops (called Posto´s here) - road transport is huge in Brasil, and the big truck stops are all over the show. Often I was not the only camper there, as all sorts of trucker hangers-on and traveling salesmen string up hammocks and even pitch tents at the popular places. One leather-goods salesman was obviously the cautious type, and carried his rack of belts and wallets everywhere with him - even into the toilets. One hears of people being referred to as `Trailer-Park Trash`, so I shouldn´t be surprised If anybody calls me `Truck-Stop Trash`. The first week since Rio it rained almost continuously, and twice I camped in front of restaurants under the verandah, and once in a covered car-wash bay (when I stuck my head out of the tent in the morning, there was a que of cars waiting for me to move). From Rio I climbed steeply up the forested mountains to the highlands of Petropolis, and for the next ten days or so I cycled up and down big hills covered by coffee plantations and grazing cattle. The lakes in the Rio Grande around the Furnas Depression are very scenic, but the continuous hills tend to detract from the view. Later I dropped down to a lower altitude where the hills were covered in endless sugar cane plantations. After a motorcycle escort across the busy and narrow 4 km causeway over the Rio Parana (with a big Hydro-electric plant in it), the hills were covered in plantation forests and cattle ranches (the bunch in picture came marching to the fence for a closer look at me - while other herds have run for their lives without me even stopping!) Along the way there are surprisingly many large towns/cities, which are only marked by small dots on the map. Campo Grande itself is larger than I´d expected and is the springboard to the Pantanal wetlands area (a big tourist attraction), which I´ll be moving through on my way West. I´ve already spotted some big colourful Macaws, and the road-kill seems to indicate that I´m not alone! Daily distances cycled since Rio have been:- Petropolis 81 km; Tres Rios 75 km; Ewbank Da Camara 80 km; Barbacena 61 km; Sao Jao Del Rei 80 km; Lavras 90 km; Formiga 101 km; Capitolio 96 km; Itau De Minas 84 km; Altinopolis 85 km; Jaboticabal 129 km; Borborema 95 km; Guaranta 62 km; Coroados 100 km; Guaracai 109 km; Tres Lagoas 93 km; Agua Clara 115 km; Ribas Do Rio Pardo 100 km; and Campo Grande 99 km. The total distance in South America so far is 10 342 km, and the total distance I´ve cycled on this trip is 76 829 km.

THE ROAD TO RIO

Eventually Leana and I have made it to "The Marvelous City" - Rio De Janeiro. We've taken our sweet time, for a number of reasons (I apologise for the delay to the 3 people who still look forward to my updates). After my last update from Joinville we had to cycle inland for a while past the pleasant city of Curitiba, up in the hills. After that we left the "Trucking Highway" and returned to the coast as soon as possible (I suffered loads of punctures from truck-tyre debris, and had to replace a broken wheel rim along the way as well). Oh yes, during that time both of us celebrated our 5th birthdays on the bikes - the new rim was my birthday present. In the process we also by-passed Sao Paulo (the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere), which sits away from the coast up over the mountains. Instead we stuck to the coastline and cycled via the coastal cities and resorts of Praia Grande, Sao Vicente, and Guaruja - as well as the Port city of Santos. So let me get back to the reason for our slow progress. Firstly, this section of coastline is absolutely beautiful. There were so many wonderful places to stay over that we often called it a day soon after lunch-time, and we stayed over in places a few times (also at the picturesque historic town of Paraty). There is an endless number of islands off-shore, and stunning white beaches, backed by steep hills which are covered in the lush Atlantic rainforest. That brings me to the second reason for our slow progress - every beautiful beach is separated from the next one by a steep bluff or big hill, where we lost a lot of sweat in the humid conditions. However, at the top of the hills there was the reward of beautiful scenery. Also, we were lucky that the rainy season is coming to an end, and we hardly had any rain at all during this time. Talking about time, we tend to lose track and didn't realise that we pulled into one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world at the start of the Easter Weekend (a very big holiday in Brasil). All budget accommodation was fully booked, and we were fortunate to find a cancellation in a not-so-cheap place which we had to take for the whole weekend (thanks to Leana - and it is a wonderful flatlet in Copacabana). Rio is really a marvelous place, and we haven't even seen everything yet - although we cycled in via the big world-famous beaches (including Ipanema and Copacabana where we are staying). The beaches are packed, but I'm a little disappointed as I was expecting to see hordes of beautiful young topless "carnival queens". Instead most of the sunbathers are overweight and not at all self-conscious about it (and thankfully I haven't seen any topless women yet - something has to hold that lot together!). We have a few days to take in the sights of the city, and we'll probably take the cable car up to the top of Pao De Azucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain). When we leave here we'll probably head inland and West again, but don't count on that. Daily distances cycled since my last report have been:- State Border 111 km; Registro 110 km; Peruibe 109 km; Guaruja 122 km; Bertioga 37 km; Boicucanga 70 km; Sao Sabastiao 41 km; Maranduba 52 km; Ubatumirim 61 km; Paraty 49 km; Tarituba 37 km; Angra Dos Reis 66 km; Mangaratiba 65 km; Barra Do Tijuca 93 km; and Rio De Janeiro 55 km. Total distance cycled in South America so far is 8 607 km. Total distance cycled since the start of this journey is 75 094 km.

SOUTH-COASTING BRASIL

Four years on the bike, and I find myself celebrating by repairing 2 punctured tubes (which by now I could probably do with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back!). Let me rather say something about Brasil, where Leana and I have been cycling Northwards along the coast for the past 2 weeks. For starters, Brasilians are a difficult bunch to describe, as there doesn't seem to be anything like a typical Brasilian. This lot comes in all shapes and sizes, they are all colours of the rainbow, they wear anything they want (sometimes hardly enough), and everyone seems to be happily doing their own thing. Some people live in fancy condo's and glittering mansions, while others live in shacks and on rubbish dumps. Streets are shared by shiny black 4X4's and horse-drawn carts (the other day I was able to help a stranded cart-man by giving him one of my spare tubes). Bicycles are popular here, for sport as well as transport to the supermarket or to work. People are generally friendly, with lots of hooting and greeting and sometimes shouting (fortunately we don't understand the language much, but some of it may be related to the popular Aguardente cane spirit - I've tried the stuff myself, only because it is dirt cheap!). When we entered the South from Uruguay the land was very flat, with a lot of lakes and rice and cattle ranching. Gradually the environment has become more tropical in nature, with forested hills and a warmer humid climate. The other night we suffered a rather heavy rain-storm which demonstrated to Leana that her tent needed some serious water-proofing treatment (fortunately I'd given my old tent the treatment in Australia already). We're struggling a bit with the Portuguese language, which we mostly confuse with the bit of Spanish which we'd picked up in the previous 3 countries (as soon as we open our mouths people here assume that we're Argentinian). In the South there was a lot of interesting colonial architecture, and we also battled head-winds most of the time (we made the most of the couple of days when the wind was in our favour). Currently we're in the historic city of Joinville, about half-way between the Uruguayan border and Rio De Janeiro. One really good thing about Brasil is that they eat a decent breakfast - bread, cheese, ham, fruit, and cake! (in comparison to the measly croissant and coffee in the previous few countries). We've camped all over the show, but thanks to Leana we have stayed in budget hotels a number of times, where breakfast has always been included. Daily distances cycled since my last report have been:- Curral Alto 90 km; Pelotas 157 km; Camaqua 133 km; Guaiba 103 km; Osorio 125 km; Capao Canoa 47 km; Torres 63 km; Ararangua 60 km; Tubarao 81 km; Imbituba 57 km; Tujucas 129 km; Barra Velha 85 km; and Joinville 57 km. The total distance I've cycled in South America so far is 7 394 km. The total distance cycled in the 4 years of this trip is 73 881 km.

A BRAAI IN URUGUAY

Asado (a.k.a. barbeque, or "braai" in South Africa) is about as big in Uruguay as it is in Argentina. Leana and I have also found other similarities between the two countries, such as the love of football, the drinking of maté, staying up late at night and taking siesta in the day, the Spanish language, and there is even pampas grass along the road. From Buenos Aires we took a ferry across the wide expanse of the Rio De La Plata estuary to Colonia in Uruguay. We camped there in the local campsite that night, and were rather disappointed at the cost of the camping and also the price of things in the supermarket. The bit of Argentinian money we´d changed didn´t last long, so the following day we stopped at an ATM in the small town of Colonia Valdense. Well, what a co-incidence, as we bumped into Jo at the ATM and she invited us home to meet her South African daughter (Abegail) and son-in-law (Andrew). A couple of years ago Andrew sailed his yacht from Cape Town across the Atlantic, and the family cruised the S.American coastline for some time until they crept ashore for the arrival of offspring number 2. We got chatting over a few beers, so they insisted that we stay for supper and we ended up camping on their lawn that night. Andrew referred us to his Irish/English friend Lawrence (and Uruguayan partner Elisa) in Pireapolis, so a few days later we camped on their lawn and were invited to stay another night for a braai. The braai turned out to be a mean ex-pat affair, with Swedes, Americans, English, Canadians, and other South Africans all sending up the smoke. (The other South Africans were Pierre and Lindi from Durban, waiting for something to be done about their damaged yacht which had run onto the rocks). Uruguay is quite a small country, but we did manage to do a few other things as well. We stayed in the capital, Montevideo, for 2 days checking out the historic sights and so forth. Further East we passed through the international tourist mecca of Punta Del Este (reminiscent of Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand). "Punta" is officially the end of the Rio De La Plata, and the start of the Atlantic Ocean (the first time my bike - Old Saartjie - had seen the Atlantic in almost 4 years). There are some nice beaches along this coast, and we camped at one or two of these. At the frontier town of Chuy (Chui in Brasilian) we crossed into Brasil. More correctly, we were stamped out of Uruguay 1 km South of the town where we spent the night "incognito", and we checked into Brasil the following morning about 1 km North of town. Officially the border runs along the middle of the dual main road in Chuy (the road is called Av.Brasil on the Uruguayan side, and R.Uruguay on the Brasilian side). Now we´ve moved a bit further into Brasil, just so that we´re less confused - at the border they seem to speak a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese, and the price of things in the shops is indicated in both Uruguayan Pesos and Brasilian Reals. In the process we´ve been welcomed into Brasil by the pouring rain - apparently there has been some serious flooding further to the North. We´ve decided to remain in our comfortable room in the town of Santa Vitoria Do Palmar for another day, as right now it is still pouring outside. Daily distances cycled since my last report have been:- Colonia De Sacramento 12 km (plus 3 hr ferry); Colonia Valdense 58 km; Playa Pascual 93 km; Montevideo 37 km; Pireapolis 110 km; La Barra (Punta Del Este) 52 km; Rocha 91 km; La Esmeralda 74 km; Chuy (Brasil border) 80 km; and Santa Vitoria Do Palmar 25 km. Total distance cycled in South America so far is 6 207 km. Total distance cycled so far on this trip in nearly four years is 72 694 km.

AT HOME IN BUENOS AIRES

After more than a week in the city, Buenos Aires is starting to feel like home to Leana and me. But let me start at the beginning. Arriving in town after dark the previous night. we were keen to get out in the morning and experience this vibrant place. Buenos Aires is a huge city with a population of over 13 million, and the high density built-up area extends way beyond the microcentro (city centre). We walked down busy malls like Avenida Florida with craft markets and living statues, and marveled at the attractive colonial buildings in the historic city centre around Plaza De Mayo, also the famous theatre and Govt buildings. We dashed across the Av 9 De Julio (possibly the widest boulevard in the world, with its famous central obelisco), and stared at the "Pink Palace" where Evita had enchanted the crowds from the balcony (we subsequently visited her grave in the Ricoleta cemetery where people still leave flowers). In the afternoon we sat down at a pavement cafe, and that's where disaster struck - before we could place our order, Leana's bag disappeared from under the table between her feet (glasses, camera, cash, and bank cards: All gone!). So now, while we wait for the bank to send a new card, we're almost becoming citizens of Buenos Aires. (Fortunately Leana could transfer some money to my "poor" account to keep us alive in the mean time - and my sister also helped out). As I've mentioned however, one could be stuck in worse places than this. Besides all the history, there is a new "skyscraper" section towards the riverfront called Puerto Madera. We also visited the colourful La Boca district (and the Boca Juniors football stadium) where we met some famous people and entertained the crowd by dancing the tango. Besides getting around on the convenient subway system, we also took the regular suburban train out to Tigre on the Parana river delta at the outskirts of the city (and had a picnic on the riverbank). From here we're planning to take the ferry across the Rio De La Plata to Uruguay - but we're still waiting for Leana's new bank card to be delivered (and she's ordered new glasses from an optician around the corner). This whole episode is costing a lot of money - not only the hotel and replacement costs, the brazen thief actually managed to use her credit card a number of times. At least the place is colourful and interesting, with cheap Ugi's pizzas on the corner, and the ever present Parilla's (steak houses). I can also understand why people here need Siesta - they seem to stay up just about the whole night!