The ride to Parati was bliss. Passing deserted beach after deserted beach I imagined that beaches like these could only be found on exotic islands in the middle of some ocean or sea. But here along the Costa Verde (Green Cost) tropical islands and pristine white sandy beaches flanked me for the 3 or 4 […]
Taking a 15 minute ferry ride from São Sebastão I cruised along the north eastern coast of the island until settling on a small hotel in Vila. The island was fairly quiet and as usual I shared the hotel with perhaps one other guest. Church on the square in São Sebastão Ferry boat ride to […]
By the time I had finished my chores and prepared to settle in for the evening the phone rang. Amazingly, it was Beto Sempa, a Brazil Rider from São Paulo. How did he find me? And that fast. I simply sent out a brief e-mail to the Brazil Riders contacts provided me by Salvador and […]
I had hoped to run into Salvador Carlucci or Dale & Sandy while in Brazil. But Salvador is now in Belem and soon will be riding down the Amazon River — well on a boat. And Dale & Sandy have left Rio and are moving north. I was fortunate, however, to chat over Yahoo! with […]
After about ten days just enjoying the laid back coolness of Floripa I headed to the Brazillian state of Paraná and the tiny enclave of Morrettes, a small town in the jungle between Curitiba, on the high plains and Paranagua on the Atlantic Ocean. Getting there is rather fun as I take the Ruta Graciosa […]
Ihla de Santa Catarina (Santa Catarina Island) is home to the capital of the Brazillian state that bears its name. Florianopolis, or Floripa as the locals call it, is really Santa Catarina island, though the city spreads to the mainland (the continent). The island has something for everyone. Beaches and bays shielded from the Atlantic […]
The madness of crossing the Ponte da Amizade to get to Paraguay and Ciudade del Este is boggling. This is a border crossing between Paraguay and Brazil that is barely policed. Rift with crime, drugs and illegal exchange of goods, one wonders what’s going on here. Apparantly the joint venture between Paraguay and Brazil that […]
The border crossing from Brazil into Argentina is efficient and well-organized. I created a bit of a fuss when I pulled over, got off the bike and searched for an Aduana officer to pitch my plight about my temporary import permit. Shaking his head while waving a fellow officer over I was a bit concerned […]
The next morning I wandered the grounds of the old church taking photographs before moving on and logging about 250 miles to São Miguel D’Oeste in Santa Catarina state, arriving just before nightfall. A tiny enclave and barely a dot on my map, I rode around town twice without spotting a hotel. A guy on […]
The City Hotel here in Porto Alegre turns out to be a bit more expensive than I’m budgeted for, they offer me a much better deal after some haggling, but it’s still too high. I’m too tired to go anywhere else and I’ve got a lot of business to take care of: 1) Laundry 2) […]
