Curitiba

 We arrived in the capital of Paraná State a city called Curitiba and pronounced in Portuguese as “curry-Sheba” because the t is soft. It sounds intriguing suddenly doesn’t it?

It’s a city of one point eight million people living at 3,000 feet above sea level which gives a lovely mild climate, 80s by day and mid 60s at night. It’s the largest city in southern Brazil and you’ve never heard of it because it’s a practical place full of industry and repair shops and people selling everything under the sun. It’s not a tourist hub. 

It also boasts a well equipped truck repair shop where we ended up spending most of the afternoon while spending $55 to get a proper alignment for GANNET2. 

I had noticed some pulling to the right as I drove and had looked up alignment shops on Google Maps; my search request in English got me results in the local language. After all this time on the road that fact still astonishes me. 

However on my first attempt I was turned away as GANNET2 was deemed too big for their equipment. So I asked if they knew who could handle my van. The shop owner said he knew where and I could go and sent a WhatsApp message to his friend the owner of a truck shop. “He’s expecting you” he said. We talked a bit and he spoke slowly and clearly and I understood him. I surprise myself sometimes.

He rents the land for his shop but he built the office and the work bay and his two sons work there with him. He moved here from Minas Gerais State (“General Mines”) in the center of the country partly because he likes the stable weather here, cooler in summer and not too cold in winter. We actually had a good time chatting and he showed me his tropical fruit trees surrounding his shop and we showed him the van and we parted like old friends  I didn’t even get his name.

Brazilians are really nice. It was lunchtime and we drove across town to the shop with the big alignment bay…

…where we had cheese and crackers for lunch as we waited for them to open. They did a good thorough job and apparently found something in the suspension that was messing with the wheel alignment (the explanation was a bit too technical for my ultra basic Portuguese) . Then they balanced the wheels and I was very grateful as they fixed another thing not quite done right in Brasilia. Our heavy van needs proper alignment its tires for breakfast and KO2s cost at least $250 each ($700 in Argentina. Forget that!). 

It was a long slow drive following Google’s blue line across town and our route was convoluted as it was rush hour.

There is a campground in town and that was our goal, a $15 a night place to stop with hot showers, WiFi, electricity plugs (which we can’t use!), a dump station for the toilet, a kitchen and grass for Rusty to lie on. 

There is a workshop attached where they build and maintain RVs according to our travel app iOverlander. 

It’s a pleasant place to stop and though it’s full of campers three are occupied and the rest are in storage.

Our neighbors are a couple from Taiwan with whom I tried to speak Portuguese as I had no idea where they were from…Google Translate to the rescue .

Meanwhile we have settled in and it looks to be cool enough at night around here not to need air conditioning. This is a much more comfortable climate than Paraguay. Thursday the plan is to look for some weatherstripping that went missing in Brasilia dammit. There is a cabin air inlet that isn’t  watertight without a strip of rubber that has gone missing and I only just noticed. My air duct should look like this: 

But this is what mine looks like after we got a new windshield in Brasilia. Why anyone would touch the air duct I have no idea but now I need to fix it. 

I only noticed the problem when the windshield got a wash at a gas station and I opened the hood to check the engine oil as you do and I found water everywhere. I freaked out a bit and forgot to check the oil. Grrr. The air duct: 

Everything can be fixed in Curitiba I’m told  and those Atlantic beaches are just three hours away and waiting for us.

Driving East

 You would think after two long days of driving we’d be lounging on a beach. Actually I am writing this in a truck stop two hours west of Curitiba in the State of Paraná still several hours from the Atlantic Ocean.

Brazil Highway 277 is a smooth well maintained toll road driving through tidy farmland dotted with hedges and copses and occasional buildings. It’s quite pretty in a tidy suburban properly farmed sort of way. Layne says we spent eleven bucks on tolls yesterday. And slowed down for numerous unstaffed Highway Patrol checkpoints. The good news is there were no speed bumps so it was all quite civilized. 

It was all quite civilized certainly compared to northern Brazil. We are trying to do fewer miles with more stops to let Rusty out to rest more as at his age he needs the breaks. I wish he would lie down on his bed or our bed or on the floor but he insists on standing up front on his cushion in front of Layne. She uses an oven glove in turn to cushion her knee against the door. Travel is compromise. 

The idea is to drive east, find a campsite on the beach, and we have a few candidates  in iOverlander, our travel app and slowly make our way south to Uruguay and the German workshop TerraVentura where we plan to have them install a Victron IP43 dual voltage battery charger  ( for those that care about the details). Till then we rely on our solar panels and second alternator  to keep our batteries fully charged…

Our rooftop air conditioner and Starlink and the fridge have been running since we stopped driving twelve hours ago and we have used 40% of our 500 amp battery bank. When the sun comes up if it is a cloudless day our solar panels will gather more energy than we are using. I find it astonishing. But of course today we continue to drive so the engine will have us fully charged in three hours or so. Can you tell I’m happy with the new system? 

Five point three reals to the dollar. G is 93 octane gasoline with 30% ethanol required by law which is what I buy. E is 100% ethanol. And D is obviously not good for a gasoline engine. They refuse to believe a van owner who requires gasoline. Yesterday the attendant (it’s all full service in South America) sniffed the cap to make sure I hadn’t lost my mind. No diesel for a gringo van I tell them…

I’ve been reading about the controversy in Old Town Key West and the decision to allow rainbow fences since the governor of the free state of Florida decided to ban rainbow crosswalks. its mot an issue in Brazil apparently. 

I’ve also read about the new surveillance state being approved by Florida lawmakers.

As you can see being a tourist in South America is a very low key life with very little drama. 

Layne did show me a comment yesterday from a traveler riding a big BMW motorcycle out of Buenos Aires the capital of Argentina who was car jacked by two armed thugs. They surrendered their motorcycle to the armed robber and walked away.  Shit does happen.  

Our days are less dramatic. We stop at truck stops and buy dinner for five bucks at the buffet restaurant attached to the gas station. 

Then after Rusty gets his walk if he wants one we all retire to watch tv and in our well insulated van with the a/c hissing overhead we hear very little noise from outside. Besides most trucks in South America stop for the night.  

In the morning we get up late as Layne usually gets her best sleep between five and nine so unless there is a compelling reason we don’t get on the road too early. 

I use the early morning to have time to myself and walk Rusty and drink tea and write a post if I was too tired the night before. Starlink on the roof helps as it’s nice to have a strong signal to upload photos. 

Then eventually I pull down the blackout curtain after we are washed and dressed and off we go. People passing who see us living in our van if they show any interest at all, are merely curious or maybe even appreciative. There is quite a lot of summer RVing in Brazil Argentina Chile and Uruguay but not many full timers like us. In the US as I understand it van life is starting to be considered a scourge as more people feel forced to live on the streets driven by poverty. That negativity toward alternative living is nowhere to be found here, at least not towards us as we pass through. 

I miss proper rest areas to be able to stop in briefly for lunch or to walk Rusty easily. I miss having the public lands for public recreation and camping which don’t exist here, but I don’t miss the negativity and anger  of Up North. I remember getting yelled at by a maintenance worker in an empty South Dakota rest area because we had overstayed our three hour limit  (we had spent the night). It will be interesting to see how it feels when we get back in a couple of years. Meanwhile here we are. On the Araucária Highway, a toll road named for the monkey puzzle tree:

The sign above is advertising the presence of an emergency services center along the highway with ambulances and tow trucks…

…which offer free rescue services (paid by our tolls). 

Monkey puzzle trees at 2500 feet above sea level. 

Downhill driving in a traffic jam caused by roadworks. Manual first gear to save the brakes.  

If your brakes fail use the escape “box”…

Neat and tidy all day long. No ranching instead it’s corn and soybeans, nowadays bound for China since Trump imposed tariffs. I can’t for the life of me understand what’s going on in the world. It’s like we feel the need after decades of doing fine to shoot ourselves in the  face. 

Brazil is also self sufficient in oil with its massive ethanol production. The Straits of Hormuz don’t affect them. 

We are flighty visitors but I feel privileged to be here at the moment. 

Storm clouds merely presage rain.