In Brazil the motorcyclists take their craft seriously and many hotels make sure preferential treatment is extended to those shiny machines. Brazilians love group riding and all belong to clubs that have their own stickers made up that are to be found plastered on every surface that they visit.
Working my way south and dodging, or not, storms that seem to hit with a fury but luckily dissipate just a quickly has been the order of this last week. Finding myself in places with exotic names like Toque Toque, Curitiba and Uribici.
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| Toque Toque |
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| Toque Toque |
Uribici is on a high plateau, which is rich farmland with a vast variety of crops grown from apples to grapes.
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| Fun Dirt roads - Parana Pines |
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| Unamed river crossing |
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| Roadside restaurant for lunch |
The riding in this area is second to non with roads that somehow manage to cling to the side of the mountains as they wind their way up and down the coastal escarpment.
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| Serra do Curvo ( Mountain of the White Crow ) |
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| Serra do Rio do Rasto |
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| Pedra Furada |
I had been given a route that goes down the southern coast for nearly 500km on the beach and had every intention of following this but the weather had different plans for me. Waking up to pounding rain in the town of Tramandai the beach option did not seem like the the wisest of choices, especially as the tide was very high and I really did not relish the idea of being washed out to sea, KTM and all. However after riding on the highway for a few hundred kms with improving weather I decided to cut back down to the beach at the town of Mostades. A sandy, and at times riverlike track brought me to the ocean.
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| Road or river -one and the same |
The hard packed flat beach was ideal for riding on and at times I found myself flying along at 80km/h. With the surf creating a thick mist along the beach there were times that the sky and the sand were indistinguishable making for a surreal sensation of floating in air.
After about 40km ( 25 miles ) I came to the Lagoa do Peixe which had breached the sand barrier and was rushing into the ocean. With no possible way of crossing this river I had to backtrack all the way to Mostades and continue down the coastal highway. I arrived at Hostel Casa do Bolaxa just south of the port city of Rio Grande as the heavens opened once again. After a long day on the road ( and the beach) I was made welcome by this wonderful family.
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| Casa do Bolaxa |
The road south to Uruguay follows a narrow piece of land between two lagoons and traverses the Tiam nature reserve with an incredible variety of birdlife from storks to eagles and every sort of duck imaginable. The Black Necked Swan is the symbol of this reserve, but unluckily they had decided to take the day off. It sure was WINDY along this stretch.
Checking out of Brazil and into Uruguay was breeze and took all of 15 minutes - then came Customs !! The customs official was very nice and helpful but insisted on seeing a copy of my insurance certificate, and not just the expired one I have from the US - picky picky. Big problem on a Saturday afternoon as everything is closed. My helpful friend, Captain Carlos from Customs managed to get hold of a friend in the town who was the insurance agent. This gentleman hopped on his moped, came to the customs post, took photos of my documents and disappeared back to town only to reappear a short while later with my insurance certificate - all for the cost of $80. Seemed a little steep but who was I to argue at that stage.
First night in Uruguay and the cool little surfing town of Punta de Diablo
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| La Posada -- Punta de Diablo |
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| View from my bedroom |
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| Thatched roof houses |
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