Thursday

 

Walking Rusty out of our apartment at six o'clock in the morning under an umbrella we pass our reminder of where we came from. 

We live in the Palm Beach building next door and there’s Tampa Bay further toward the office and Fort Lauderdale across the garden, and so forth. The naming of the buildings in this complex called officially Lakeside, is a reminder to me of the glory days of the US as an example to be followed by the rest of the world. 

This is Florida living at 16 degrees south latitude in an economy where our pensions make us firmly middle class. Our unit is for sale but long term rentals are available.

We got our unit for a month because it’s for sale and we promised to agree to any showings in return we get to stay through our agreed rental contract  currently January 8th but which we may have to extend to January 22nd depending on the van work.

The weather is overcast with frequent downpours such that we carry umbrellas at all times and I’ve even dug out my beach camera a Panasonic TS7, a compact dive camera  safe to 100 feet under water. Sometimes one does feel submerged even in land and the pictures don’t do conditions justice.

The funny thing is the rain comes as a relief, it feels like winter in Key West with the air conditioning off and windows wide open. Getting wet is no more dramatic than that; this isn’t hypothermia country.

Rusty loves it and that matters to me. He mooches around looking at the world from the patio then he goes indoors and takes a nap as any old dog should. He spent an hour yesterday morning dragging me through the rain along the not terribly scenic lakeshore investigating absolutely everything he came across. I photographed things I came across just as we used to in the Keys. 

Every now and again he would wander off and then look around myopically for me so I’d wave my umbrella to alert him to my location. The vets say he is getting glaucoma and possibly is a little deaf but he hears pretty well when he wants to.

We discovered a family of capybara, harmless hairy pig-like wild animals stuffing their faces on fallen mangoes. Rusty treated them like every other bizarre South American creature he has encountered: with curiosity and suspicion leading to over confidence when they snort and squeal and run off. He still comes when called, so his deafness doesn’t prevent him hearing me when I mean it. Rusty the stalker getting in position behind some cover: 

I hope I’ll get a chance to watch them on a dry day with a proper lens. 

If anyone suggested we should retire to a south Florida apartment to wile away retirement I’d get pretty indignant. But for the moment doing just that in Brasilia has enough of the exotic to make it enticing. 

I trust we shall be back on the road exploring South America before I find myself yelling at young people telling them to get off my lawn.

Garbage hauling on three wheels: 

They have expensive tastes in South America too. I read in travelers forums about standing out with an expensive car if you travel here. Not really…

 

Decadence

 We have apartment 207 in the Palm Beach building in the Lakeside complex.

And if that sounds suspiciously like we’ve slipped back to Florida I can only agree. This place is neat and tidy with squads of gardeners and cleaners on hand keeping everything shipshape. 

Dogs are welcome and bags are provided next to the trash cans and everyone  picks up after their miniature manicured balls of fluff. 

We paying about $1100 for the month for a sort of studio as the bedroom is behind a screen not a door but we also get a covered patio which in these temperatures is delightful.

GANNET2 is across the street from the RV workshop at the mechs if where we will hopefully get a new Brazilian alternator to power our house batteries from the engine. Denir (on the left) says he can fit a locally supplied alternator and will also check our undercarriage -wheels brakes joints and bearings after the rough driving we did in Amazonia. By which time our electrical upgrade parts should be ready to install according to Alessandro owner of the RV workshop. 

Now we are getting settled and organized in our apartment and we may be here for a bit as Alessandro says he may need until January 20th to install our new panels air conditioning and associated parts. It’s longer than we’d like but we aren’t in a position to shorten the time. Our landlord Juan, an English speaking transplanted Argebtinecssys we can extend our stay so that’s good.

I’m focusing on how good it will be back on the road with enough power to live off grid a while longer, to sit at a beach and not need to plug in for a few days. I wish it were tomorrow but we are lucky to find and afford this place to stay for a while. Rusty loves it. 

He was not happy as we packed up in Cristalle’s apartment to make the move. When no van appeared but instead his bed magically appeared in a new apartment he perked right up. A terrace, cool temperatures, and a walk when he wants and Rusty is happy. 

Martin Parr died a few days ago and I was sorry to hear it though he had been dealing with cancer. He was a British photographer known for his quirky documentation of the eccentricities of daily British life particularly on the beach. I was thinking of him as I walked with Rusty on the lakeshore yesterday morning. 

It rained a bit but it tends to do that this time of  year.  We thought we had left our umbrella in an Uber so when I went to the bank I bought three Chinese replacements for 100 reals ($18).

Alessandro found our brolly in his office so now we have four. I hope we have enough to get through the next six weeks in Brasilia. 

 

Move Delayed

 We were supposed to move into the apartment yesterday but it wasn’t ready so the plan now is Tuesday afternoon.

There was some good news though inasmuch as there is a terrace and we were not expecting  that. Quite the bonus it is too:

It comes with a suicide net and I’m pretty sure Rusty is going to enjoy sitting out. I will too because temperatures are comfortable outdoors. 

The second piece of good news is it costs us less than expected, down to $1050 for a month including utilities and WiFi. By US standards it’s affordable and the complex is kept up well. We’re in the Palm Beach building between Tampa Bay and Key West; I kid you not.

I went into town for a quick bank run as we have to carry cash to the RV shop. It’s weird in a country that pays for about everything with credit cards this business only takes cash or Brazilian bank transfers. So we have to hump wads of 100 real bills ($18). 

So I took a short walk after I pulled money from the ATM at Banco Bradesco ( which we call Brad’s Bank). 

I have explained it’s not hot here, not at all like it was on the equator and then here on the street I pass a guy in a puffy jacket…and there I was comfortable in a t-shirt. 

They love bright colors on their weird cement blocks of buildings. 

This was some kind of Intramodal transit station. Brasilia has two metro lines , orange and green, and this place seemed like a combined metro station/car parking lot/bus station. 

Brasilia is built on a huge plain at 3500 feet so there is lots of space to build all the cement tower blocks you want. 

And in between they have wide boulevards, green spaces and huge bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways. 

I think it was a chess match in progress and under observation. I was on the wrong level to get closer and see the moves. 

I saw a giant ad for the iPhone 17, a  reminder we’re still using our iPhone mini 12s. We’ve been on the road a while. 

I think you have to create an account to pick up one of the electric scooters. Brasilia is so spread out I might  be tempted. 

They say Brasilia is the safest city in the country and I can believe it. 

There’s space to spare in this very odd urban creation. I have no idea what this is (below), a park or a path or modern art? I don’t know. 

This cafe was advertising a training course for heavy machinery operators. Why? I have no clue. 

Once we get settled I want to try to figure this city out. Right now I can’t figure where the hell downtown is for a start. 

Rusty making friends.