Tocantin State

Thursday for us was an excessively long travel day and I forgot it was Thanksgiving so thank you for the good wishes for yesterday.  

For the first time in 31 years of marriage we did not celebrate our favorite holiday and we both felt like crap. Instead we drove too far all day and wore all three of us out, including Rusty.

We regrouped for the night in a hotel attached to a truck stop at the Ipanema Plaza  in the city of Araguaina, as romantic and warm as it sounds, perfect for a Thanksgiving dinner of Brazilian empanadas and a weird shredded beef and cheese open faced sandwich. Araguaina was founded in 1958,  and with 200,000 residents is the second largest city in the state. Tocantins was founded in 1988 by slicing off a chunk of Goias State and making the city of Palmas the capital. Hey presto a new state was founded, Brazil’s 26th. So about as architecturally inspiring as you might expect. Yesterday was not a great day. I spent the evening apologizing to Rusty for dragging him here. 

Apparently hydro electricity is the states fortune as two rivers drain here, the Araguaína and Tocantin and the state is a massive producer of hydroelectricity. 

I’m not quite sure why but apparently people want to live here in a state that produces electricity and agricultural products but apparently that is the case. I can’t say I’m particularly attracted.   

For us Tocantin represents a step south away from the Amazon, out of the jungle into extensive ranching and farm lands. Boring to look at but much more healthful. 

Tire shop:

It also represents our escape from the area of northern Brazil where malaria is endemic so next Tuesday will be the last day we have to take our malaria prevention pills. 

And finally in the good news department the temperatures seem to be dropping a bit. We saw 74 degrees yesterday evening and it was possible to walk around outside without sweating during the day. Amazing and very welcome after months of blistering heat in the Guyanas. 

In the less good news department we drove nine hours yesterday arriving at our hotel just after dark. We only covered 350 miles owing to the dreadful state of the highway and endless  slow truck traffic. It was too much and we were all fed up with being in the hustle especially when Thanksgiving came up in conversation and we were miles away from celebrating. Last year we were in Puerto Montt with traveling friends. This year we were alone.

They are building toll booths along this execrable highway. The road is badly patched rough and full of potholes and the state of Pará is planning to charge for the privilege. One booth was operating and she charged our credit card $2. 

I’d like to think the money will go to repaving but somehow I doubt it. Im glad we don’t have to come back this way to pay the absurd tolls to be bounced and jostled all day. 

Some days on the road are just one long gringo moment. I trust your Thanksgiving was better. 

Another new toll booth not yet open for business. We also got waved through two police checkpoints. Still waiting to meet our first corrupt cop…thankful for that after 18 countries and all the negative stereotyping. 

The landscape wasn’t that interesting though later in the day we got a few hundred feet of elevation and saw a few hills scattered as a backdrop to the pastures. 

And we drove over a massive road and rail bridge with another similar one being built alongside. But the highway remained a bumpy patchwork quilt unfit to be driven on. 

And we ended up driving on the left side of the bridge which was easy but odd. Civil engineers have the capacity to baffle me all too easily. 

Maintenance and upkeep is never factored into grandiose white elephant projects in South America with predictable decrepitude creeping in. 

I cane across an article saying 75% of road bridges in Costa Rica are in desperate need of upkeep. And it’s not like road bridges don’t collapse at home either. But twenty billion goes to Argentina and war with Venezuela is imminent. When will we ever learn? 

Speaking of which, who knows what happened here: 

We saw several broken down trucks on this wreck of a highway. 

I caught a glimpse of this optimistic bus. 

Wanderlandia should have been our destination. 

This school bus was grinding away at walking speed like it was on its last legs: 

Rusty got fed up with hours aboard and tried to jump ship we we stopped to buy some roasted ears of corn. I had to drag him back aboard and he protested. That was the last straw and added guilt to my general sense of misery  and self pity. Some days on the road are too much. 

He was right too as usual and we are going to drive a bit less and take longer breaks and rest during the day.  Enough with marathons, we are retired. Smart dog. 

It starts to get dark around six and it is dark twenty minutes later. 

We arrived at 6:25 pm last night. 

We got dinner at the truck stop and a perky young woman who talked Portuguese like we understood her, led us to our room. Down an exceedingly long corridor. 

Friday will be better. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. What a day.