ODO: 359,147
We are in a bad way this morning…so much…dehydration. We drag ourselves into the pool, and watch a ton of monkeys frolicking across the canopy. The majority of our recovery is spent back and forth between the pool and the truck, waiting for the shadows to provide enough cover for the tent to cool down. At some point we struggle our way to the grocery store so we can eat. Why are we so bad at keeping food in the truck? Every time we get in the pool there are monkeys today. Which always helps. We turn in for the night as early as the heat will allow.
Because we didn’t (couldn’t) work on the truck yesterday, we have some maintenance to do today before we leave. Step 1: Move the truck onto the concrete and also into the shade. Step 1 is extremely important. Our tasks today are change the rear brakes, and swap the rear driver tire with the spare tire. Our spare tire lives under the bed of the truck, held in place by a small winch that is often times very fussy or non-functional. Today the winch is extremely functional! The spare tire is out very quickly. Next up are the brakes. Our brakes have been bad for a while, so we brought pads back with us from our work trip. When we get the brakes apart, we find they are in worse shape than we realized. One of our rotors is worm half way through. Oops. All in all, the truck comes apart and goes back together with no issues, one of our smoother maintenances. Time for one last cool off in the pool before we start driving. It’s a short dip, the pool has been getting warmer and dirtier throughout our stay, and today is officially not good.
Packed up, we leave Rio behind. On our way out, we make a quick stop for some yarn, the last yarn for the Sweater of the Americas. This will be part of a sleeve. Knowing we are trying to put the truck in a container around March 15, and we have 1500 miles to go, we have a minimum drive day of 100 miles to make it on time. That’s our only plan, drive 100 miles along the coast and see if we feel like stopping or continuing driving. Our goal campground does not respond to our messages, so we continue on to a cute little hotel in a cute little beach town.
This hotel is not an Ibis, and we feel it…The bed was a rock, so sleep didn’t go great. Stiff, and tired, we get back on the road and start checking off miles. In the middle of the day, the truck starts losing engine power. Berne thinks it’s the fuel pump again, citing dirty gas in South America. We just need the truck to hold together for another 1300 miles, and then it’ll get all the parts it needs to run smooth again.
We keep choosing the coastal route, and that leads up to a river ferry. The line is serious, but not near as serious as the highway traffic jam going the other direction. Our crossing is fairly quick, after which we do an Ibis tour. We’re very tired, and we need an Ibis night, and there are three in this town: a Budget, a Styles, and an…Ibis regular? We choose the most expensive, the Styles, for a whopping $50. All we want is some restaurant dinner and a relax for the evening, and that’s exactly what we do. 1100 miles left to go.
After a good nights sleep, we realize just how tired we are. We were exhausted before we went back for work, and are still recovering from that, plus Carnaval, plus the heat, so we decide an additional hotel night is the right move. This is the nice part about being ahead of schedule. We find a nice Italian place for dinner. When we arrive, we discover that while they are open, their kitchen doesn’t open for another hour. Just enough time to sit and enjoy a bottle of wine in their air conditioning. We picked a good day for rest, the weather has been extremely rainy all day, and with our very bald tires, driving in the rain isn’t the most fun. After our later than planned dinner, we head back for an early night.
It’s still raining in the morning when we hit the road. Checking our math, we need to go 63 miles a day now to get to Montevideo by March 12. The road takes us up into some hills, where it becomes an obstacle course of small wrecked cars. The road surface is good, no potholes or grooves, but must be very slippery. We pass several cars facing the wrong way, and in various states of smushed. At one point, the temperature drops to 64F!! We cant remember the last time we camped in these conditions. Our day ends on the banks of a quiet reservoir, and the sun is still up! We’re treated to a lovely sunset over the water.
We have a lunch date in Curitiba today with Rico, one of our Carnaval friends. He has picked out a churrascaria (Brazilian grill), and it is delicious!! They keep the meats coming until we are beyond full. Rico is also part of the travel agency that took us to Antarctica. We say our goodbyes, and hope he calls us again in a year for another amazing experience. Leaning into our low milage requirements, we head back out to the beach, and find an ocean front campground. It must be low season, the place only has a couple vehicles in it. It’s warmer than last night, but the on and off rain keeps it in check. We drift off to the sound of waves crashing onto the beach.
It’s time for another rest day. We’re only getting father ahead, so we can take all the rest we need, as long as we can get out of Brazil by the end of the month. In addition to meeting our boat, our Brazil VISA is expiring, so we need to keep that in mind with our planning. Our other big to do item is to start working our way through our pantry of non-perishable food. Apparently, it’s ok to have when shipping, but customs will still flag and inspect it. We do not want this, and we don’t want to throw it away, so every meal includes something packaged until we leave. Otherwise, we loiter around the campground, watching the wheelchair dog, and hiding from the sun and playing with our cameras.
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