From Brazil to French Guiana

Anybody with a bit of knowledge of this part of the world might realise that we've headed up the coast of Brazil, going North then West, rather fast. We had a few good reasons for this: 1) Brazil only allows a 3 month stay (unless you can apply for an extension) and our time was running out. Plus we wanted to have a little of our 3 months left to re-enter Brazil to get from Guyana to Venezuela (later on). 2) The last 110kms out of Brazil, going to French Guiana is dirt, and we wanted to pass it before the start of the wet season, or, if we failed that, we might need those extra days we'd already been keeping. 3) French Guiana has a major rocket launching facility and we hope to see a rocket launch scheduled for early December.

So, from Belem we took a cargo ferry to Macapa. I've written about the process of sourcing a suitable boat on my Brazil Overlanding notes page for any interested overlanders. 

The cargo boat took 40 hours (2 nights) to cross the mouth of the amazon river, passing various islands on the way. H insisted that he'd sleep in Blac, I took our hammock to the top deck where everyone else was sleeping (about 10 men, almost all staff). 

On a couple of occasions H was in Blac (the camper), down on the deck, when we hit very rough waters. It was scary for both of us and H says that waves hit the back of the camper and water came in. I get sea sick, so I was taking ginger pills and just holding on (ginger is wonderful, I wasn't sick). 

The scenery was interesting, lots of people live on the waterfront in basic shacks and the main industry was obviously timber. We also saw many boats carrying baskets and making regular stops. These, we believe, were collecting Açai. It's a miracle food from the amazon that you'll find I'm many western health shops. 

On the wildlife side we saw dolphins twice. We think the first sighting was a pink river dolphin!

When we got to Santana (Macapa) we had to wait all day to unload. First they had to unload, by hand, enough stock (rice, salt, flour, eggs, corn, farinha) for  H to manoeuvre Blac into a suitable position, and then we had to wait for the tide to go out enough. Finally we unloaded, and discovered that across the river was a very pretty historical area of protected houses connected by boardwalks. 

Macapa itself was a pleasantly surprising city. We visited the fort and had Açai (it really does make you feel good), before starting north west again. 

Late the next day we arrived in Oiapoque, the place from which you get your passport stamped and leave Brazil. From Oiapoque to Grench Guiana they've built a wonderful bridge, but, years later they still haven't opened it, so you have to pay a ferry to take you across! 

At immigration (Policia Federal) we discovered that despite rushing to come North we'd been wrongly processed as exiting when we entered São Paulo airport. We talked things over with the man and eventually he was able to fix things a we were allowed to exit Brazil (where we officially never were!).

By now it was just on 6pm and the ferry was closing for the day. Oh well, at €200 for the boat we hoped that by waiting until the next day we could share the expense, so we waited. But then we found out that only 3-5 vehicles cross each week and the next reservation was in 3 days time, so late on the next  day we paid the 200, and crossed. 

The ferry journey from Oiapoque to St Georges is actually upriver and takes about 45 minutes, and the scenery is nice. 

In St Georges we got directions and headed straight to immigration, but they'd just closed (6pm)! So we parked by the river overnight and enjoyed the scene with a few drinks and sardines on toast. We'd left Brazil, and made it to French Guiana!

photos:

We are loaded and ready to leave Belem, but they are still stacking freight.

EVen a basuc lifestyle in Brazil seems to have a satellite TV dish!

Our path, acording to the GPS,  through the mouth ofthe Amazon River

The lovely historical boardwalk area of Santana (Macapa)

H, testing the hole in the bridge before we drive across, on the road to Oiapoque. 

The final ferry from Brazil to French Guiana! 

Travelling from Jericoacoara to Lençois Maranhenses, day 4

From the gorgeous oasis to touring Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses. 

First, I want to say that Hendrik was doing all this driving just for me. After our failed dune crossing on day 3 of this adventure he didn't want to go to Barreirinhas: he felt the dunes in Lençois Maranhenses would be just the same as the ones where we couldn't pass so he didn't want to bother with them. 

I, on the other hand, felt that the Lençois Maranhenses must be spectacular and I wanted to go. We'd even discussed me catching the bus service (in the back of a Toyota ute) over the route we had failed on and doing the tour and coming back again in one day while H waited. But in the end it was H who found the alternative route and decided we'd do it. 

After our wonderful oasis stop the journey wasn't such hard work for Blac. The track was extremely rough and slow going, but much harder (as opposed to soft sand), and with travelling earlier the day was cooler too. It took us another 5 hours, but we got to Barreirinhas. 

I booked myself on the Lagoa Bonita tour, 2-7pm. H said he'd wait, and clean the car. 

Well, the Parque Nacional dos Lençois Maranhenses is spectacular! Nothing like the dunes we'd already seen: not those at Paulino Neves, Jericoacoara, or Mangue Seco. I swam in a lake in the dunes, the guide took me for a walk and explained lots to me, and I loved it!

I didn't take a lot of pictures (wind blowing sand into moving parts of cameras isn't good for them, I've learnt), but here's a couple. 

Travelling from Jericoacoara to Lençois Maranhenses, day 3

From Parnaiba, an attempt to get to Berreirinhas

We took the tar as far as Paulino Neves. Then, it seemed that all we had to do was drive just 40 kilometres of 4wd track on beach and dunes. So, we set off... It was about 11am and we thought we'd be in Berreirinhas in time for a sunset tour!

However, we didn't get far before we found ourselves before a dune that Blac couldn't climb over. H tried it a couple of times, but we couldn't even get close. 

So we turned back. On our return we stopped at another vehicle that was broken down (locals) and we asked if there was another way around. They indicated yes, but you return to town first. 

So we continued back to town. In town a tourist tout (who happened to tell us previously that we'd never make it) told us that there was another way and that he could get us a guide, since we wouldn't find it on any maps, or in a GPS. 

Hendrik didn't want a guide. He zoomed in on the GPS and found another track that would lead us past the waterholes (and therefore past that dune) on the other side. We headed off. 

It was slow going. First we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in the town rubbish dump! The right track, through the scrub, was barely wide enough for Blac, in fact he got a few scratches (but what's a 4x4 without scratches?), it was mostly soft sand with a few hills. 

Blac wasn't liking the hard work in the heat (who does?), and it was about every kilometre that we were adding another 2-3 litres of water to the radiator. This was not good, and I worried that we'd run out of water. 

It was always hard to know which path to take, there were many tracks in the sand. We soon left the GPS guiding, because one other track was clearly much more used. 

This led us to a small village that wasn't in the maps or GPS, we asked for water and were directed to the creek. What we found was a beautiful oasis, a clear fresh water creek, a bar, and a little bit of parking space. We decided to stay the night! The place was all the more spectacular because there wasn't any rubbish in sight! This is rare in Brazil. 

We bathed, in the river (as did the townsfolk, and there were more private areas to access), and we filled up our water tanks and Blac's radiator. It was also good to know we had a suitable camp (we couldn't really stop overnight on a road barely wide enough for one vehicle), and could travel at a cooler time, in the morning). 

Of course, we still hadn't made it to Barreirinhas, but we were enjoying our adventure so much that it didn't matter. 

If you want to find the oasis (the town had a name, but I don't know it), here are the coordinates:

S02•49.457'

W042•32.733'

(I can't find a degree symbol on my device, so I hope this makes sense.)

Travelling from Jericoacoara to Lençois Maranhenses, day 2

Traveling the beach Jericoacoara to Camoçin

We woke the morning after we'd been sent out of Jericoacoara to discover that the fishing boats that we'd parked between were mostly gone. I'd heard a few men at 4am and gotten up to have a look (I'd realised they were fisherman come for the boats), but I couldn't see the activity in the dark. 

We calculated that if we made an early start we'd beat the high tide, so off we went. The beach driving was great and pretty soon we turned inland to take a ferry across a creek. The ferry was more like a raft, part powered by small motor, and part by shunt. There were 2 men each with a raft trying desparately to get us to float with them. We asked 'how much weight does it carry'. The answer scared me, because instead of just answering the man carefully considered our vehicle first. '4000 kilograms'. From his careful consideration I wondered if he was thinking 'gee, if I say 3,500 maybe they'll turn around... Better jack it up to 4000'. 

Anyway, we went and it was fine, the raft stayed just above water!

The boatmen told us to follow the tyre marks through woody mangroves, and we carefully manoeuvred under low branches (we need about 3m clearance). The white sand looked like snow, but the high temperature kept it real. 

Then it was back onto a stretch of beach before cutting across low dunes to make a low tide creek crossing just a bit inland. At this point there were black pigs and piglets everywhere. Maybe you don't know how much I like pigs, just seeing them makes my day better.

Over the creek there was a small village , with a Dutchman running a guesthouse for kite-surfers who caught up with us and greeted us (in Dutch). Soon we were invited in for coffee and to meet the other Dutch people. This was great because we needed to wait out high tide anyhow. 

Apparently, some other Dutch overlanders (H knows them) passed here 3 years ago, but aside from that they don't see so many overlanders going by. 

After a while the people of 'Portal do Venta' (the kite-surfers guesthouse) had work to do, so we took a dip in their pool, said farewell, and headed to the waterfront for lunch. The first Dutchman (Marcel) also gave us a lot of instructions for the next part of the trip. 

Marcel's instructions were wonderful to have, but we still got bogged. We were stuck in mixed sand and mud, and it took us about an hour to get unstuck. But!, we should never have gotten bogged!

Whilst travelling up the beach, if the sand surface was 'easy' Hendrik would switch the vehicle to 2 wheel drive. When we first bogged down into the sand I said 'Are we in four wheel drive?', 'yes' came the reply without looking. (Note, Hendrik is a really good driver, but if you question his driving too much you get a grumpy Hendrik). 

He tried again, we bogged down more in the rear. He got out and started digging, I took photos and then decided to collect bits of timber for support. When he had dug enough and put some timbers in he decided to try again. This time I was watching. 'Your front wheels aren't turning' I said. 'Mmmm' he said with an acknowledging nod. I re-stated 'your front wheels aren't even trying to turn'. He replied with something about diff locks. 

By then we already had 4 men on motorbikes who'd turned up and were helping with the digging, getting of timber and placing it. Finally H decided to try again. The front wheels turned too, and out we went. H came around to me and said quietly 'ya know why we got stuck and couldn't get out?, we were in two wheel drive still'. That's H, he'd hate for anybody to think that Blac wasn't up to the task when he was at fault.  

I thanked the 4 men, offered them cans of coke for refreshment, and we were off again. 

Another turn off the beach and we arrived at another ferry to take us over the river to the large town of Camoçin. The ferry took 2 vehicles at a time, and a Hilux utility was already loaded. They told us we were heavy and offered to take us across for Rs50. 'How much is a regular car?' Hendrik asked. 'Rs25'. 

We reluctantly agreed, figuring that yes we are heavy and they'd need to take us without any other vehicle, ie, a private transfer, since normally they took 2 cars at Rs25 each, and they were charging us Rs50 (the equivalent of 2 cars). But, no they wanted us to board with the utility. We refused, and told them we'd wait, they could take us alone. 

Crazy as it was, when they came back for us they still directed H to drive to one side of the ferry. It was a scary crossing as the ferry rocked and Blac rocked even more, I really thought we'd lose everything!

That was enough adventure for one day. We decided to do the next few kilometres on the tar road, and rested overnight at a petrol station at Pernaiba. 

Travelling from Jericoacoara to Lençois Maranhenses, day 1

Into Jericoacoara 

Is driving your own vehicle into Jericoacoara really not allowed? The Lonely Planet Brazil guide says traffic is restricted, but despite having travelled through Jeri yesterday, we still aren't sure about the regulations.

On arrival into Jericoacoara we were instantly stopped by young 'parking attendant' men who told us we had to park there and couldn't drive into town. But, their demeanour wasn't that of people enforcing a regulation. No, it was more like desperate tourist touts trying to get you to park with them, hire a taxi, buggy or horse from them, book a room with them. We didn't trust that what they were telling us was at all true. 

We tried to tell them that we wanted to keep going up the coast and for that we needed the road, which we thought was accessible through town, and for the night we'd like a campsite. But, the young man was so full of 'push' to get us to parking there that he wasn't even listening or trying to help us. H lost his temper, raised his voice, and then we drove of, with the young man threatening that he was calling the police, and his colleagues giving hand signals that we'd be handcuffed. (Really? For driving into a town to find the way north? .... we've seen Brazilian police ignoring much more dangerous activities.)

We parked at the fence before the big dune, the one that you are supposed to climb to watch the sun turn emerald green as it dips below the horizon. We climbed the dune with the hordes of tourists and watched the sun disappear behind a cloud before it reached the horizon. Oh well. 

H, needing the loo, headed back to the motorhome sooner than I did. He was greeted by the police who told him that we didn't have to park with those parking attendant people, but nor could we park overnight in town. We could, however, drive North up the coast by going through the fence opening just near where we were and camp anywhere we wanted to, North of the big dune. I got there not long after (I'd deviated along the beach), and off we went. 

We drove 6kms before we found a good place to stop overnight. It was between fishing boats. Unfortunately, this all meant that we didn't really get to visit Jericoacoara. I would have liked to, but circumstances meant we had left town rather soon. First impressions made it seem just to touristy, so I think we'd feel that it was all too pushy. 

photos: Travelling the dunes to Jericoacoara; Watching the sunset from the sunset dune at Jericoacoara; Our beach camp (next morning,  boats had gone fishing); the dune buggy's are popular for travel along the beach, they have a combi 1.6 engine and have the eV advantage of being light.

Swimming with dolphins, for free!

There are a few places in the world where you can swim with dolphins, but the ones I'm more familiar with charge you quite a bit to do so. But, this isn't the case at the tourist town of Pipa (or Praia do Pipa) in Northern Brazil.

I (the Aussie) did it 2 mornings in a row. H (the Belgian) wasn't feeling so well the 2nd day so I went instead with a couple of Dutch overlanders we'd met at the campsite. 

To swim with dolphins here, you walk at low tide around to Baia dos golfinhos (Bay of dolphins), and go for a swim. On the first day H swam out pretty far (with fins) and reckons the dolphins surfed along with him for a while. I stayed closer to the shore (not so game to get out of my depth), but still the dolphins swam within a few metres of me. 

The next day the waves were better and the dolphins were surfing in the closer waves rather than just swimming along. It was exciting to see them surfing in twos and threes. 

At one time we saw a fish skimming the water, in the direction of the shore. Then we realised that a dolphin was pursuing the fish and in a moment the fish reached the shore and the dolphin had it. Very exciting!

I have no photos of any of this (I didn't take my camera.... rather not get it stolen), you'll just have to believe me, and maybe put it on your 'to-do' list!

Getting parts for Blac on the road

Whilst driving the Transpantanera in the Brazilian Pantanal we broke yet another car part. This time it was the pump that pumps the diesel from our spare tank to our regular tank.

It had a small blockage, but when H removed the pump, it broke. He tried to fix it about 3 times, but each time it broke again. Obviously it was time for a new pump. 

Getting spare parts can be difficult for us. Generally we stop at one parts shop and get given directions to another. We barely understand the directions, and finally we find the place, only to be given directions, again, to another place. Again, and again, this happens. 

When we came back from Australia we brought lots of parts with us. H had his brother to bring them from Belgium, as it was easier for us, and actually no more expensive. 

So we needed a fuel pump. This time we got lucky. The first shop we stopped at, on the way into the big city of Cuiaba, helped us. They didn't have the part, but instead a man jumped in his car and drove into town and found the parts for us. Reputedly he went to many places before he found the part and he was gone about 5 hours. Meanwhile we did the grocery shopping, had lunch, and found a new fan for the bed space. 

The part wasn't cheap, about $USD125, but we needed it and we really appreciated the service this shop gave us. 

(And, if anyone is looking for it... The Autoparts shop is just before the big round-about as you come from Pocone, on the left).