Off to a good start....South American Travel Diary...

www.tuscaloosanews.com By Sylvere and Martha Coussement January 23, 2003

We returned to Venezuela from the United States on New Year’s Day, and after a brief evaluation of this country’s conditions, we accelerated preparations to exit with our car into Brazil.

Venezuela has been locked in a general strike since Dec. 2, 2002, led by the opposition to President Hugo Chavez, and both sides have dug in their heels. Eighty percent of the country has joined (including the vital oil workers and managers) leaving shortages in all areas, including food, cooking gas and gasoline.

The not so subtle maneuvering of this country’s government to a Cuban style communist state by Chavez is the underlying reason for the opposition. Much civil unrest with huge demonstrations, not without violence, has been a daily occurrence.

The banks have announced their intent to join the strike for at least 48 hours (they have been open but four hours per day since the strike began). This has precipitated a rush on the banks with block-long lines. Although conditions have been barely tolerable (can you imagine no beer?), we think it will be more pleasant out of Venezuela.

Having succeeded in our accelerated program for this trip around South America (the most important being the rat-holing of 15 gallons of gasoline), and having put our sailboat, Orca, in the storage yard, we departed Puerto La Cruz on the Jan. 15. This put us two weeks ahead of our original plans, precipitated, of course, by the continued political and economic deterioration in this country.

The Venezuelan countryside proved quiet and with little traffic. Deciding to get our visas at the Brazilian Consulate in Puerto Ordaz was not wise, since we faced a four-hour wait at the bank to deposit the required fees. For security reasons, a number of institutions will not accept cash and require direct deposit to their accounts. Fortunately, the consul suggested the vice consul in Santa Helena (on the Brazilian border) for this operation where they accepted cash.

One never knows what the rule of day or region is going to be in Latin America. After a pleasant stay at the Villa Fairmont, we struck out for Brazil.

Across the equator

Boa Vista is a relatively new city created by the government to encourage colonization of the desolate northern part of Brazil. It is nicknamed the city of giants, since all of its roads are at least two-lane divided highways. Needless to say, there are no traffic jams.

The road to Manaus, on the Amazon river, was jointly described to us as “good" or “awful."

Well, it was both. The first and last thirds were indeed reasonable, while the middle portion was awful, full of large potholes when there was a roadway. Understand that this road was started in 1974 to connect the new city of Boa Vista with the rest of the country but was not completed until 1987.

A violent history was written during this time. The poison-/sarrow wielding Waimiri Indian tribe objected to the road through its ancestral lands and combated the Brazilian Army for many years, killing more than 200 soldiers. The Waimiri population high of 1,500 had dwindled down to fewer than 400 when a negotiated settlement was reached in 1986.

The drive through the reserve is quite memorable, with 125 kilometers of jungle where drivers are not allowed to get out of their vehicles. Crossing the reserve is allowed only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and no photography is permitted.

We encountered a number of tribespeople on the road side, bare breasted et al. And, indeed, they are a handsome people, their lives little influenced by the encroachment of civilization.

Several of the men held bows with a number of arrows, and none of the expressions on their faces could be interpreted as friendly. Perhaps guarded, stern or angry would be better descriptions, but they certainly did not smile.

We have learned that we will be traveling down the Amazon on a barge. Apparently, the major traffic is passenger not auto, so if you wish to accompany your car, you do it on a barge on which your stateroom is your car.

And we used to say that the Hilton was camping out.

• Next week: A “luxury" Amazon river cruise or how to live out of your car with two dogs, a cat and a wife on the equator.