Hitchhiking the World: Chap 13 (Brazil)

---June 29th 2016---

I crossed both border, and exited Jaguarao. Night wasn’t too far from the horizon, but I most certainly didn’t want to camp right next to the border, so I pushed my luck to the end of the light, and sure enough, it paid. I may have had crossed the border, but it was still a couple from Uruguay who got me my last ride. We drove through the first part of the night, eventually reaching the city of Pelotas. When they exited the highway, I asked to be dropped off, as the outside of the city sounded better for me. Once more, the sky was quite pretty, and this time full of stars, but something was telling me not to trust my eyes too much and follow my instinct which told me to find shelter. Having exited at the intersection of two highways, I had the luxury of having an overpass for shelter. And sure enough, I managed to squeeze myself between the huge concrete I-beams supporting the bridge and passed a horribly noisy night right under the wheels of passing 18-wheelers. That being said, this noise was more than fine for me as a thick fog covered the highway, eventually changing into rain. Once more, Mother Nature 0, Eric 1.

At the break of dawn, I got to explore the highway network and find the one heading my direction. Regrettably, it was in construction, resulting in a long section impossible to hitchhike one. This forced me to use the nearby gas station and ask around, but this wasn’t to be easy, Brazil didn’t just meant new country, but also new language: Portuguese.

“Ola, como esta? Posso sei onde tu vas?” I kept on repeating to every driver I could get a hold of. I tried and tried, but there was no sight of hopes, but eventually, found hope again as someone finally accepted me on board.

He wasn’t going all the way to Porto Alegre, but at least he could get me out of the construction zone. Once at destination, he dropped me off, and I started hitchhiking again. Not a whole lot of luck there either. I waited two hours, and the ride I got, well it was the same guy from before. He had finished his work in town and was heading toward the edge of Porto Alegre this time. He knew I had no money with me and that leaving me in the entrance of the city wasn’t good for me, so in Good Samaritan, he gave me a ride to the ferry and give a few bucks to cross the lake. From there, I asked one of the crew members for direction toward the bank, and a girl hearing the conversation proposed to show me the way. Not only to the bank, but also to the metro station and offered me a ticket to Novo Hamburgo. Things were now looking pretty nice, but everyday nemesis, nightfall, still had me cornered. Novo Hamburgo may not have been has big as Porto Alegre, but it was still a city, and I had no place to go. As I was wondering around, I eventually heard church bells, I thought I was saved but there was nothing they could do. One of the guys working in the church told me about a mission which could help me out, but after about an hour walk, I realised it didn’t existed, but as I got back to the church, he told me about a police station just on a block away. My expectations were pretty low, but once more, travelling had a surprise for me as the police officer told me I could spend the night in one of the back room. With this invitation, I had managed to find shelter seven days in a row, not bad when you are on the road every day.

I had found a way to spend the night inside, but that wasn’t my only concern for Novo Hamburgo; I still needed to find a way out. Finding no other option, I ended up walking the 6km separating me from the outer edge of the city. From there, I waited. I waited an hour and fifty minutes overall, but finally, in the distance, I heard a whistle. I thought it was a bird, but when I turned, I saw some guy waving at me. He was going to Gramado, my next target. Once in town, I needed to find my way to the Caracol Waterfall, a few kilometers out of town. To reach this location, it took me two other cars, but managing to get them back-to-back gave me the opportunity to tackle my second destination within the same day. And sure enough, thanks to three other good souls, I reached Parque do Cascata, by late evening. The low light was definitely appreciated as it gave me amazing pictures. The park was beautiful, but in the middle of nowhere; so I found no refugee for the night, leaving my streak at 7 days.

Caracol Waterfall

My next destination was Urubici, a town in the middle of gorgeous mountains full of nice sites waiting to be seen. Unfortunately, to reach Urubici, I needed to cut across the dirt road. I rapidly found a first ride heading 12km in the back roads, where without any wasted time; I found another ride to Bom Jesus. Despite a slow start from the day before, I have had good luck with my rides, so when the driver told me he lived a few kilometers pas Bom Jesus, I didn’t hesitate. That was a bad move! Once out of the car, I started walking, and it took me about two and a half hour to get a ride for another few kilometers. From there, things got a little more complicated. I once more decided to walk as every house was new potential, but I quickly realised I had overestimated the traffic of this road. I rapidly saw a first car, but from that point, I stayed 4h55min alone walking on dirt roads. When night fell down, I found myself in a bad situation as the forest had no place for a tent, and the farmer field fire didn’t leave in much confidence for sleeping in the fields. Starting to feel a bit stressed by the situation, I started asking the very few farmers living here and there around the river. This was futile! At the moment I would ask to speak to them, they would scare off leaving no choice but to start walking in the dark hoping for more luck on the other side. And more luck I had! Just about a kilometer down the other side, I finally heard the most beautiful sound in the world: the sound of an engine after 4h55min walking along a desert dirt road. The sound came from a motorcycle, and confused to see a backpacker 30+km in the middle of the forest, he stopped. He wasn’t going too far, but this ride helped me skip a few kilometers. This 5min ride gave me a boost of energy, enough energy to reach the road control I had heard about a few house before. I knew they could help me, so when I finally saw the light, I ran toward it, not even minding about the back pain and the many new blisters I had gained, and surprised once more an unexpected employee. The officer rapidly offered me to use the shower to wash; I guess smell of a 8+h walk in the humid forest helped getting that shower. His generosity didn’t ended there as once out of the warm shower, a meal was waiting for me (my first in 28h30min), and when I finally called it a day, he invited me to sleep in one of the bunkbed of the small office.

The next morning wasn’t in too much of a rush. I asked how many cars were passing per day, and the answer wasn’t too far off from what I had experienced the day before: 2 to 5 cars per day. Thankfully, I only waited 1h and got a ride to Sao Joaquim, the end of the dirt road, and back into civilisation. I was starving, but I knew I had only a day and a half to visit a lot of sites, so without any time to waste, I hitched to Bom Jardim, for the overview of a huge canyon, followed by Urubici, and finally a car with whom I visited Morro do Igreja, Cascata Véu de Noiva, and Cavernas do Rio dos Bugres.

The arch of Morro do Igreja

Once back in town, I started looking for a place to stay. The town didn’t have much to offer, but as I looked at the town’s map, I notice the Fireman’s House. All throughout my trip, I had heard they usually help low budget travelers with shelter. I walked toward the Bomberos and knocked. Without any hesitation, they offered me a bed in their gym, and offered me a meal. At breakfast, they told me they had called their boss and that if I wanted, I could stay an extra night; this sounded great. Having my night pre-established allowed me to visit the park without my big bag. To start the day, I went to the Avencal Waterfall. From there, I had to cross town and head toward Morro do Campestre and Sete Quebas Falls. To see the seven waterfalls of this last location, I had to go on a 2km trek, probably the most fun trek of this trip. The first waterfalls were connected by a clearly marked trail, but as I got deeper and deeper up the creek, the trail got harder and harder to see, eventually completely disappearing. From there, I had to walk in the creeks bed, climb the slippery waterfalls, and walk along narrows ledge (nothing high, but still fun). As I went back toward town, I noticed lots of smoke coming from the forest, and even some flames. I didn’t mind much, as burning field after harvest looked quite normal in Brazil, but the closer I got to the forest, the bigger everything looked. When I got back to the firehouse, no one was there; this wasn’t just another field fire, but a real forest fire. What are the odds of seeing an actual forest fire the first time you are sleeping at a firehouse?

Sleeping at the firehouse; there's a forest fire!

Having had visited the totality of the region, I decided to start hitching toward Foz do Iguaçu. This was a long way from Urubici, and I knew rain was coming my way, so I didn’t have much time to waste. I got a first ride toward Lages, but got dropped at the entrance of town. With all the walking involved between Bom Jesus and Sao Joaquim, and to visit the Urubici, my feet were covered with blisters and cuts. Crossing Lages by foot didn’t sound too pleasant, but at least the gas station provided plenty of cars for me to talk to. It took quite a while, but eventually got a ride which brought me more than halfway.

As the Sun slowly set, the clouds started covering more and more of the sky; it was going to rain, and I needed a place to shelter for the night. Not seeing any abandoned house or house in construction, I headed toward the local church and asked for shelter. As I imagined, the church was off the grid, but the BBQ house for the typical Sunday churrasco, was free for me to use. I threw my sleeping on the floor and went to bed. A few hours in the night, the rain started pouring on the street of Maravilha, making not only making a racket, but also managed to find a way through steel roof, and down on my sleeping bag. I changed my location, but just as I fell asleep again, the rain found a way to reach me again. I changed spot a few time, and eventually found what looked like the only place without rain, but still and difficulty sleeping. I took my time to wake up the next morning, hoping for the rain to pass by, and once the rain down, I packed my stuff, and headed toward the edge of town.

My morning was a waste of time, 3h without any ride, but early in afternoon, I got a truck to pull over. He brought me to the Argentinean border, from where I got another truck heading a few towns north, and finally got picked up by Fernando. After explaining my crazy adventures, he offered me to stay for the night at his house. We ate with his parents; I got to shower and wash my cloth, and definitely got a good night of sleep. In the morning, Fernando offered me a ride to the edge of town, and flagged a truck to stop. I didn’t think it was going to work, but the first passing truck actually stopped.

It took me a few more rides, and a full day, but eventually got to Foz do Iguaçu. The day was late and the park closed for the rest of the day, so I walked toward the downtown’s edge and found a nice little forest for me to pitch my tent.

The famous waterfall of Iguaçu were just a few kilometer down the road, but the distance was too big for me to walk and the ever extending city, meaning I had to do some city hitchhiking. I tried for over an hour until I got my ride toward the waterfalls. I spend a good part of the day walking along the water curtain. At around 3pm, I exited the park and got a ride across town, and a few more to reach a truck stop where I could spend the night.

The Brazil side lets you walk inside the waterfall

The gas station accepted for me to camp on the property, but I had to wake up at 5am before the tire shop opened in the morning; question of safety. But, 5am was quite a while before sunrise, leaving me no choice but to hitchhike in the gas station. No luck! I wanted and wanted, but there was no traffic. Closing in of yet another useless morning, I finally saw a car stop by my side. The lady driving wasn’t heading in the same direction, but at least I had a ride out of town, and kilometer wise, her destination was the same distance from mine than the truck stop, so it wasn’t that bad of a ride.

My goal was to reach Guaira by nightfall, thus changing state. This objective sounded easy enough, with only 50km to cross, but it took me all day. The day was horrible and I was a little discouraged, but just as I ended up in a rough place, next to the Paraguay border, I asked a trucked for help, and definitely got more than I was expected. The trucked not only accepted me on board, but drove me 400km north, up to the intersection leading to my next destination. About halfway across Mato Grosso do Sul, we stopped and cooked food using the truck’s kitchen located under the trailer.

I guess every ride is worth trying

After another night at a gas station, I crossed Rio Brilhante, and tried hitchhiking. As always hard, I wasted my morning looking at cars passing me by, but as always, found one to stop. The couple driving the car invited me for a churrasco (Brasilein BBQ), and offered me to stay over for a night or two. For me, this was an opportunity to relax, and plan the next few days. Plus, as some friends came over, we made a small party and enjoyed a few Brasilein beers.

Even if the last two night were quite fun, the feeling of getting back on the road was felt. It took me a little over an hour to get my first and only ride toward Bonito. Once in town, I started looking for a friend of Diogenes (my host from Maracaju). Unfortunately, Marcelo, his friend, couldn’t help me out; therefore, he didn’t want to leave me stranded without any option. A few calls later, he hooked me up with one of his friend and got me a place for the night. I had to wait for three days until I could visit de Gruta do Lago Azul, the reason I was in Bonito. After two nights at Marcelo’s friend’s house, I was transferred to another friend’s house, as this one had a nicer property for birdwatching.

On the third day, the day touring of the cave, I woke up, walked to the creek to look for wildlife, and to my surprise, without even trying, I saw a beautiful motmot bird, two toucans, a coati, and a few more. After an hour spent watching nature at its best, I got back to the house, and took one of the bikes, and headed to the cave. I thought to small 24km between town and the cave would be easy, but I sure was wrong. The mix of wind blowing in my face, lack of food and water, the constant climb and the unbearable heat were all there to make my ride beyond exhausting. Thankfully, on my way back, gravity and the wind were on my side.

Expensive, but worth it

After a night under the heavy rain and heavier thunderstorm, I got back on the road, and started tackling the 2000km separating me from my next destination. My first day was just like any other, at least up until the last ride. As I was hitchhiking at the gas station on the edge of Campo Grande, I started talking with the gas station attendant. Amazed with my story, he decided to help me out. Unfortunately, no cars were heading out of town. But eventually, a bus stopped to fuel up, and as the bus driver noticed me and big backpack, he asked the attendant who I was. Without an instant to loose, the attendant started telling my story to the driver, and also amazed by my story, the bus driver invited me for a free ride to Coxim. Arriving late at night, the driver even offered me to stay at his home for the night; nine and half month in, and I am still being surprised.

Since the bus driver had to wake up at 4am, I had to wake up early. Still being pitched black outside, I once more got to a gas station and started asking people around for rides. As expected, there wasn’t much traffic, so I once more started hanging out with the attendants. Eventually, I heard an engine starting; I turned and saw a truck slowly leaving the gas station. I started walking toward him. I still hadn’t reached him that he signed me “Where are you going?” I signed him my direction, and he shook me OK; all this before I even got to the truck. I road with him up to Rondonopolis, from where I got another ride to the state line of Guias. For the first time since Rio Brilhante, I had no place for the night, so I ended up throwing my tent on the grass a few feet from the highway. The trucks may have being loud, but the lack of traffic and my fatigue got me to fall asleep very fast.

The next day, I had two things in mind, birdwatching and hitchhiking. Being on the edge of a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, I managed to do both, and rapidly saw a few toucans and blue-and-gold macaws. It took me two hours, but eventually won a ride to Mineiros, and two hours later, one to Jatai. From there, I only waited half-hour to get a ride to Jaragua, just north of Brasilia (roughly 700km from my morning point).

Multitasking: Bird watching and hitchhiking at the same time

Jaragua gave me the opportunity to bypass Brasilia, but this wasn’t going to be easy. But my decision paid off quite rapidly as I got seven rides before dawn, five of which were bellow 5min, got 8$, two meals, and a place to stay for the night.

After a night at the hotel, paid by my host (or at least his company), I got back on the road. I didn’t have to try too hard to reach my destination: Vale da Lua. The family that drove me to the site were heading there to enjoy a nice refreshing bath in the river. Not being in a hurry, I joined them, but not before walking along the shore to photograph the gorgeously carved stone guiding the water from pool to pool. Once we got to the natural pools, we jumped right in the cool water. Not too surprising, the spot was pretty touristy, but as usual, everyone stays in the same spot, leaving the nicer pool free of people. Out of these nice pools, two stood out; one we could cliff jump (3m to 5m) and another where we had to squeeze ourselves between two rocks to enter a cave. Once in the cave, a small opening gave enough room for light to reach the pool, and once in the water, creating an underwater beam of light. Simply amazing!

The beautifully sculpted rocks of Vale de Lua

At noon, we got back in town, and as for me, I tackled the road heading toward my next park: Chapada Diamantina. I hitched a few cars from Alto Paraiso to Campo Belo, but could find anything before nightfall, so I asked a local farm if I could camp on their property, and won a free night in one of the horse’s stall.

Not being hiding, I decided to sleep in a little, but eventually, the light of the Sun woke me up for good. I got back on the road, and got a ride pretty fast from a guy who saw me the night before, as he was entering town. I knew I wasn’t on the best of road, so I decided to target Barreiras for the end of the day. I struggled all day long, but managed to reach my destination just on time. As night fell, I realised I was going to be stuck in town, so I asked the gas station if I could sleep on the property, which they agreed to, and went to the back. The back was the truck’s parking lot. I walked around and found no sign of grass. This absence of grass meant I had no choice but to sleep in one of the parking spot. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the situation as trucks have huge blind spot making camping pretty dangerous, but as I kept walking around, I saw a truck completely blocking a parking lot. I went to see the men, and asked him if he was going to stay for the night. His positive respond relieved me, as I knew I could now sleep in this particular parking lot without getting run over during the night. Still being early (sunset was at 6:30), I hung out with the truck driver for a little while. When he asked me why was I interested into camping in the parking lot, I explained my story, and told him about my destination. Without hesitation, he offered me to tag along with him as the next day, he was heading my way. I spent a night between roaring trucks, but still slept like a baby as I knew I had my ride in the morning.

At 5am, the trucker woke me up, and packed my tent, and climbed into the cab. Off we went. We drove all day long and even stopped for lunch. All throughout my trip in Argentina, everyone told me a way to recognize a Brazilian trucker was to look for the one cooking using the small BBQ on the side of their cargos. As you can imagine I was invited to one of these road side BBQ.

It is not an Argentinan myth, Brazilean do cook when trucking

When we finally arrived at destination, I climbed out of the truck and hitched inland. Lucked seemed on my side as I rapidly got a ride to a small town in the middle a beautiful canyon and a place to camp for the night. I spent most of the evening to plan the visit of the park and finally, once everything planned, I got to sleep.

At the break of dawn, I got up, and started my hike toward the most majestic waterfall of the region: the Cacheira de Fumaça. It took me 1h15min to reach the waterfall but as I got to the site, there was no waterfall to be found. The dry season had completely dried the creek feeding the cacheira (waterfall in Portuguese). I was a bit disappointed about the situation, but at least, with so little water, the creek feeding this waterless waterfall had become totally red.

I looked at the trail map of the park, and started crossing all of the waterfall I wanted to visit as it was clearly not the season to visit them. This left me with a few caves; three underground lake, and two dry caverns. I crossed Poço Azul and Poço Encantado as they were pretty far from me and expensive, and decided to go for Gruta Azul instead. It took all I had, but a managed to reach the cave just on time. For just about an hour per day (between 14h and 15h) the light aligns perfectly with the cave and lights up the crystal bleu water into bright turquoise. The sight was magical. After taking a few pictures, and enjoying the phenomenon, I started heading toward Iraquara, hoping for a firehouse I could spend the night at, but there was none to be found. Seeing a rainy cloud coming my way, I walked to the gas station at the end of town and asked for shelter. They offered me to sleep on the porch once all the clients left. It may not have rained a lot, but it drizzled all night, and I was glad to be protected from it.

With only 1 hours per day of light, this caves offers a great show

Still dry, I got back on the road, and thumbed toward the Torrinha Cavern. Once at the cave entrance, I started asking the pricing for the tours, but none seemed to fit my budget (R$70 per person – about $30 canadian). Determined to visit this cave, I explained my situation to the owner, and as he enjoyed my adventures, he offered me to visit the entire cave system for half the price. Having visited many caves in my travels, I would of normally skipped this one, but this cave was special, as it has some very rare formation, and by the tonnes. This cave is definitely one of the most divers caves in the world, and one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. After over 3h underground, we came out of the cave.

Torrinha Cavern and it extraordinary formation

After getting a ride from the couple who explored the cave with me, I got an instant ride to Morro do Pai Incacio to watch the sunset. From the top of the Mesa, we could see two beautiful canyons, and in the middle of one of them was a road with what looked like an abandoned gas station. Being high enough to see above the near mountains, I could see the rain coming our way from a distance, meaning this gas station was my way out for the night. The Polish couple who had brought me to my last destination of the day graciously drove me to this gas station, and with the permission of the restaurant owner in front of it, I unpacked my tent. The ground was rocky, the wind was hard and the roof had a few leaks, but I managed to stay more or less dry which is all that matters.

Finishing my day at the lookout of Morro Pai Incacio

I woke up in a cloud of fog, and a drizzling sky, but by the time I got ready to hit the road, the fog had lifted just enough to spare me from its humidity. It took me a little over 10min, but rapidly got a ride out by a truck intrigued by the camper sleeping in the abandoned gas station. I road with him for 2h, and got another ride to Ruy Barbosa, but despite only being 9am, I stopped my day when a woman approached me and offered ma a place to sleep and most importantly, a place to wash my cloths which were starting to smell a little too horrible, plus I used the opportunity to finally cut my hair.

After a full day of relaxation, I walked to the edge of town, and started hitchhiking. My first ride came slowly, but the next few came a much faster. To my great surprise, I managed to find rides all the way to Petrolina by nightfall. The guys who brought me in town dropped me at the edge of it and once I found a field good enough for camping, I setup my tent. Unfortunately, this didn’t last too long. The strong wind had no issue collapsing my tent, waking me up in the process. Not able to strengthen it, I decided to take my sleeping bag out, and just sleep over my tent, homeless style. To make night worst, the wind kept on blowing sand in my face, but the worst was the temperature dilemma that it caused. The wind was too cold for my liner (a fine sleeping bag), but if blocked by my warmer sleeping bag, the ambient temperature mixed with my below-freezing sleeping bag made my night unbearably hot. I woke up a few time soaked in sweat.

Like every other rough nights, the Sun eventually put a stop to it, pushing me to wake up. That part was not only fun as I could put an end to this hellish night, but just seeing the face of the locals seeing this homeless person waking up, was all worth it.

Back on the road, meant progressing toward Serra do Capivara. Once more, I managed to find a way to the park by nightfall. Therefore, once I got in town, I was slowed down by a hick: it is impossible to visit the park without a guide. Not having the money to pay a guide, I started bouncing left and right in town until I a lady offered me a place to camp for the night, and a few trick on how to visit the park without a guide. The following day, I followed her instructions. I walked to the park entry, and waited for a car to pass by, with a guide, explained my situation, and eventually found a couple from Sao Paulo who accepted to help me out. The tour took all day long. We visited different ancient paintings, one or two canyons, the Piedra Furada, the park’s arch, and finally stopped at a ceramic shop to watch the local artists at work.

La Piedra Furada

With one more park to go, and this one very hard of access, I decided not to stay very long in the region, and start hitchhiking toward Piripiri. Within just two rides, I got invited for lunch, and eventually to stay for a night, nice since I wanted to wash my cloths.

The next day wasn’t one of the hardest one. I found a quick ride to the outer edge of Teresina, and three more toward the park of Sete Cidades. Being at the park entry too late in the day, I just camped on the outside, and called it a day.

Like the park before, I needed a guide to explore the park. But this time, the lack of traffic made it much harder. I started waiting at 8am, and got a ride with the second car who passed, at noon. That being said, the park was most certainly worth it. The French couple I hitched with and I had a blast exploring the many odd rock formation all over the park.

The Turtle

To finish the day, the couple and I drove to the edge of Parnaiba, where we split. Despite the late hours, I managed to push myself through a few more kilometers, finishing in Cana Brava. Once in town, I did my usual walk around town for a place to sleep, and ended up finding an abandoned property. I started cleaning the grass from rocks and trash when the smell of weed briefly passed. Not too sure if it came from the nearby bar or a pot plantation on the property, I decided to through my tent directly under the spot light. Obviously, the thought of sleeping on a potential pot farm prevented me from having a good night sleep. All throughout the night, I kept on having nightmares waking me up, but the moment that scared me most came right after one of those nightmares. Just as I got out of my tent to go to the bathroom, I heard a noise from the near grass. I immediately look toward the tall grass, but without my glasses, I couldn’t see what I was looking at. Of course, being still sleepy, my imagination started playing tricks on me. I rapidly got back into my tent, but stayed up for an hour, listening for any sound coming from the grass. My head was all over the place, “should I pack my stuff and leave, or should I stay here from the night?” I thought it was better to stay on location as if I were to pack my stuff, it would of shown I had seen something, and if there was indeed someone, he could feel menaced, but by staying, I would have been indirectly telling him I saw nothing. Was there someone or not, I don’t know; hopefully, it was just a dog, and the rest all came from my sleepy imagination.

I woke up with about 1000km of road in front of me. I was now finished with touring Brazil, but still not done with the country. The toughest road was still ahead: hitch-boating the Amazonia, and tackling the jungle roads between Macapa and French Guyana. With still a lot of road to go, I didn’t waste any time. I got a few rides bringing me close to Sao Luis, and from there, luck struck big. With just a few minutes with my thumb up, an 18-wheeler stopped, and as I climbed in, the driver told me he was going to Belem. There it was, 700km from destination, and I got my ride. We drove all afternoon, and when night fell, the driver told me I could sleep in one of the beds as he would be driving almost all night long. I slept all night long in the cab of the truck while accumulating kilometers. And just like that, I managed to enter Belem by morning, at least 24h faster than anticipated.

Once in town, I started walking along the port knocking at every door hoping to talk with a captain heading my way. I walked for nearly 3h, and knocked at the door of at least seven different ports, but nothing seemed promising. I eventually landed in an information center. I explained my situation, hoping to get a map of the different port, or some information of where to find boats for Macapa. The employees seemed thrilled with my plans and started helping me like I wouldn’t have imagined. After a few minutes with them, we found a port with a boat heading my way, but this one was across town. Still exited to help me out, one of the employees, Miguel, offered me to drive me through town. Once at location, we were told the boat would leave only the next day. Knowing I had no option for the night, Miguel invited me to sleep at his place for the night.

The next day, I got back to the port and bouncing around the port in search of someone high enough in the company to get the OK for hitch-boating. I talked with a few sailors, which told me to talk with the captain, which told me to talk with the tickets vendor, which told me to wait for the manager, which to me to talk with another lady, which told me that I needed to wait for the boat’s owner, which finally told me the boat was full, and that there was nothing for me. Not ready to give up on the only boat leaving for Macapa, I asked him if I could wait for the last minute and see if everyone showed up, and if not, if I could hitch his boat. He seemed a bit distracted, but shook yes. With very few hopes, I got back to the ticket booth, and told them I could have a free ticket if someone wasn’t too showed up. That being said, it was only 8am, and the boat wasn’t leaving until noon, so I sat down in the corner of the office and waited for 4h nervous. Finally, just a few minutes before the departure, the manager told me to come see her. She took out a booklet with tickets written “free entrance”, and asked me for my passport. There it was, 7h wait, and eight different ports later, I got my ticket for a cruise on the Amazonia. As far as the cruise goes, nothing incredible happened.

I made it! I hitch-boated the Amazonia

I stayed two nights in Macapa, but eventually, got back on the road, and started my climb toward French Guiana. As I reached the halfway point between and French Guiana, I was forced to stop due to the lack of light. The clouds were getting thick, and I could see lightning in the distance; I needed a place for the night!! I went to the local church and asked for help. Without too much hesitation, the priest told me to wait for after the ceremony, so he could figure things out for me. Needless to say, I stayed all throughout the ceremony. What looked like something without much story still had an odd surprise. While everybody was praying, I noticed that a group of people on the left side of the church started moving and looking all in the same direction. Then, one of the priest’s assistant got up in panic, and ran toward the group of people standing up diving between them. I was puzzled as I couldn’t understand what was happening, but when the assistant got back up, he was holding in his arms a near dead person which I assume had a heart attack in the middle of the ceremony. He ran out of the church with the old man in his arm, screaming “Don’t die on me! I’ll take you to the hospital. Don’t you die on me!” I may not know exactly what happened, but at the end, the priest did mention the old man was under control. Thank God!

My next day had one goal, reach the border. It looked easy as there weren’t any towns between where I was and the border, and as expected, it was. I was picked up by three ladies living in Guiana, meaning I had my ride up to Cayenne, the capital. Unfortunately, once at the border, the ladies I was riding with couldn’t check their car out before the end of day, so being stock, but not wanting to leave stranded in Brazil, they offered me to pay the small Pirogue mandatory to cross from Brazil to French Guiana. Bye-bye for now Brazil, but I’ll be back before Venezuela.

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Country's Statistics

Number of nights : 41

Numbers of days on the road: 32

Percentage of invitation at night : 49%

Overall waiting time : 89h

Average wait : 39min

Longest wait : 4h 55min

Male vs female : 75% male – 4% female – 21% mixed

Total amount of rides : 139

Average spending per day : -7,89$/day

Place visited : 19