South Of The Amazon

 We were very lucky with our Amazon ferry, the Lion of Marajó, as it arrived an hour early, unheard of, and we were back on dry land and driving out of the city at 1:30pm, half an hour before we were scheduled to dock.

We had heard horror stories that sometimes the arrival was delayed until four o'clock and we had a reservation at a hotel in town just in case. As it was we decided as soon as we got off the ship we would drive as far as we could toward Brasilia, 1200 miles south of Belém. We figure in the capital we will find what we need to get our second alternator fixed so we can get some beach time before the new year. 

Getting off the ferry was not as simple as it might seem…this is Brazil. 

First they got a fork lift to bring out a steel ramp which I prefer to wooden planks any day. 

And then the guy driving the black car was faffing around with his cat carrier, which struck me as decidedly rude. He could have put the cat and carrier in the car and sorted it  fifty feet away on land. And then the pick-up in front of us couldn’t make the ramp. This was Laurel and Hardy quality comedy.

We did manage to escape eventually bypassing the black car but we got stopped on shore by a man who gabbled something at me. Finally a slow speaker came up and asked about credit cards. I thought Layne might have used a card that hadn’t gone through even though they didn’t take cards on the boat. But no, he was the credit card man and had the idea we wanted to pay for our completed passage by card. He took our wits we had paid cash in Santana and off we went. Belém, a big city and back to real traffic. 

The weird thing was mountain one asked for any documents for us the van got the entire journey. Usually Latin America is so hung up on bureaucracy I figured we’d have to present passports and car papers but not a bit of it. They would have let us ride without paying had we wanted to pay by credit card in Belem, not that we knew that was an option. The recent eco conference wrapped up in Belem last week:

We are hoping to get some work started on our alternator next Monday at an RV shop in the capital city of Brasilia. We’re bothered of living out of suitcases and not sleeping aboard GANNET2 but we need electricity to get our camping life in order. 

Roadside attraction, Belém 

After the grand excitement of the Amazon ferry our drive south will be an anti climax. So far we have had crappy pavement…

Even the patches are tough and uneven and we spent a lot of time bouncing which was tiring. 

And to add to the joy the scenery is the usual ranch land with cows and some forest. 

None of which detracts from the fact that we are headed south to cooler temperatures and more interesting landscapes in southern Brazil. And we have finally escaped from the Guyanas and dirt roads and everything hot and sticky. 

We are still in the poor part of northern Brazil and we haven’t escaped from the malarial infection zone yet.

But we are driving south. 

And a breakdown in the middle of the road provided some interest. 

The mechanic had showed up and was working on it in the highway. 

While the state highway transportation guy was directing traffic onto the shoulder. Very organized.

Layne called ahead to a hotel 200 miles down the road and got permission for Rusty and after we stopped to pick up dinner outside the city of Tailândia…

The Bambu Hotel is pet friendly it turns out with cold air and secure parking and for once the entrance gate is high enough it easily accommodated GANNET2.

We had some heavy rain but we are pavement now for the foreseeable future so rainy season is not a worry. 

We are all snug for the night. 

Even the weird dog who sometimes eschews his bed. 

Good night.