Palomina

We decided Palomina deserved its first shower after 5 months and 35.000km. Bad decision, since we had to spend the next two hours figuring out why the engine wasn’t starting anymore.

Then it was the time for the first preventive maintenance of all voyage. With cleaned injector and throttle body, new spark plugs, fresh oil, and a rebuilt front suspension, the bike felt like new, ready for the 1500km through the jungle that were to come.

Later edit: front bearings and coolant were also replaced.

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Brasilia (Capital Federal)

The plans for this city were laid in the ‘50s. As a result, many streets and buildings have odd but interesting shapes. In the center of the so-called “pilot plan” a TV tower has been erected. From the observation platform, one can better understand the layout.

The “pilot plan” features many open areas and extremely wide avenues. Unfortunately, much of this are is covered with a combination of grass + dust instead of something like grass + trees.

But the city planners did not pay too much attention to public transport. As a result, there is a metro system covering only small portion of the town, and many buses for the rest.

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The Sugarloaf Mountain

The Sugarloaf Mountain is easily accessible by cable car (built in 1912, claimed to be the third in the world, after Spain in 1907 and Switzerland in 1908) and offers awesome views of the city and its famous Copacabana beach. We planned to go there just before sunset, to be able to observe during daytime and nighttime as well.

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Next

The plan was to get from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro in two and a half months. We are now in Rio, just two and a half months late 🙂

During these five months we made several plans about what to do after Rio. Plan A was to go to Santos, ship the bike to Africa and continue through Mauritania, Morocco, Gibraltar, Spain, … , Romania. But a few things (people we’ve met, stories they told, pictures we’ve seen) made us believe we should dedicate more time to explore Africa. Since now we have no more time and resources for such an adventure, we decided to postpone it.

So we had to find another pleasant and efficient way to transport us and the motorcycle back. We discovered that flights from Martinique to France are considered domestic and tickets sell cheap. Also, shipping Palomina from nearby Venezuela to USA would be cheaper. And a cruise on Amazon should be something unforgettable as well.

Plan B is to continue to Brasilia, and then to Santarém. From there, we shall be able to catch a boat to Manaus (700km, 3 1/2 days). Disembark there, then ride North towards Caracas through the Amazonian jungle. Good plan, isn’t it?

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The favela

Like any big city, Rio has its own sketchy areas. They are called “favelas”. According to statistics, 20% of the lower income population of Rio lives today in a favela.

The tram line was passing by one of these favelas so I decided to check it out. Not very long time after entering, a teenager carrying a handgun approached us. “Nothing new, just another tourist being mugged at gun point in Rio de Janeiro” I was thinking, but soon we realized he was looking for something else. It wasn’t my watch or my camera; instead he just wanted to make sure we weren’t armed. As soon as he realized we were unarmed, we were allowed to leave. Later we found out regular police doesn’t patrol favelas, so a militia is organized to keep things under control.

This experience convinced us to cancel the visit and instead hire a professional guide for a tour in the favelas. But later the same day we met some guys who were advertising tourist services in a square. We found out they were actually living in a nearby favela and they assured us nothing bad will happen should we choose to go back to the favela with them.

We waited until they finished the work and then we went back to the favela, this time even deeper. I was expecting something like I’ve seen in Slumdog Millionaire, but to my surprise nobody was living under cardboard over there. All houses had brick walls and utilities, the only bad thing being there is absolutely no space between the houses. Usually built on the hills, the favelas are separated by the rest of the city with tall, colored brick walls. I was invited inside a house to meet the family, we drank a few beers and then we took each others bikes for a spin (and Palomina was the star of the evening, of course!)

Contrary to our expectations, everybody was in a friendly mood so we left without incident. The only strange thing was to see so many guns in hands of children. But we were also loaded with dynamite (from the mine shop in Bolivia, still unused in the top case), so the situation was somehow even 🙂

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