Howard & Mervyn's World Tour

JULY 10

BOLIVIA-Potosi

                  Thursday 1^st we left without any problems but found the map of the town bore no relation to the roads. The journey to Sucre was slow but uneventful. After asking the way several times, in the town, we found the Hotel Austria and booked in. We took a taxi to visit the Tourist Information, the Señor said he would find out the road information for us and he would be at the bus terminal in the mornings and the Tourist Office in the afternoons. Friday we took a rest day. In the morning we crossed the road to the bus terminal , he was not there, Mervyn then visited the town, in the afternoon we went shopping.

                Saturday 3 ^rd in the morning we again crossed to the bus terminal, he was not there. After lunch we went down town, the tourist office was shut. We did buy some malarial tablets and returned to the hotel. Sunday we left Sucre on an Autopista/Expressway to head for Camini. After a short while we arrived at Tarabuco, at the entrance to the town there were two roads, no signs, we took the right hand one and ended up in the middle of the town and had to back out along a narrow street. We returned to the junction, having wasted an hour, and took the left fork. This bypassed the town on a dirt road which continued, although we did not know it then, for 438km. We got to Padilla as it was getting dark and a café owner allowed us to park beside his café for the night. All the local residents shook hands with Howard. During the day we saw three King Vultures. Monday as we had no electricity we started off at 0730 and continued on the dirt road into the mountains where the road was often single track and glued to the side of the cliff with a vertical drop of several hundreds of feet. We saw two Black Vultures. Having made a wrong turn, there were no signs showing the road we wanted turned off into a side road in Montegudo. We lost an hour returning and took the correct road where upon Howard scraped the side of the van on a protruding rock and lost his nerve with the drop off the road, Mervyn took over. We stopped for the night in a bus terminal in Montepampa. Tuesday another early start through another mountain range where the roads were worse than Monday, fortunately we only had 60km to a surfaced road, this took four hours. We saw two Green Parrots/Parakeets and several Black Vultures. On Ruta 9 we were able to increase our speed to 80k/h and arrived at the border town of Yacuiba by 1600. We could not find the two camps, no signs, and finished up in a fuel station at 1645. Wednesday we were ready to start early, the garage did not have any diesel. We moved onto a second garage where we were charged double for diesel as we were a foreign vehicle. We had the van washed, it was a superb wash. We went on into town with it’s short narrow streets, but no signs. We asked several people for directions and following them went the wrong way down a one way street. We eventually arrived at the border in the middle of a street market. There was more than the usual chaos, and two locals took us in tow to sort our way through to Argentina. Finally we left Yacuiba to travel south to Tartagal where a helpful local guided us, in his van, to the camp. There were lots of people queuing, we parked without services. Thursday we drove on south to Ruta 81 where we turned east. We saw our first Deer in South America and many birds. The most numerous were Southern Caracara and South American Roadrunners, there were many flocks of small birds including one of Green Parrots/Parakeets. Among the other birds were Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, two Storks and some Egrets. We were stopped by a blockade mid afternoon, it had not cleared two hours later, so we turned back and camped in a hotel car park. The evening meal in the hotel was delicious. Friday we showered in the hotel’s outside shower. We continued on Ruta 81 to Formosa, we asked the way in a garage and were given a sketch map which we followed to the camp. Our journey was simplified by police waving us through red traffic lights.

                          Saturday 10^th we left for the Paraguayan Border, north on Ruta 11. Ten km short of Clorinda the engine lost power and the thermometer registered over 100°C. Three helpful policemen arrived half an hour later and sent for a tow truck. We were towed into Clorinda to a small garage where it was discovered that the fan belts were badly damaged. They were replaced and we were guided to the border by a motorist from the repair shop. Two touts guided us through the formalities, which took an hour and a half. We stopped for the night in the first fuel station we saw. Sunday we were woken by a thunder storm. When we motored into Ascuncion, in the first rain since Ecuador, we were pleasantly surprised by the road signs and the visible street names. We saw a taxi rank and Howard took a taxi, with Mervyn following, to the Hotel Westfalia where we received a pleasant greeting. Monday a loud thunder storm with heavy rain greeted us in the morning. The sky remained overcast with rain showers for most of the day. We stayed in the caravan. Tuesday the day started bright and sunny but cold. Mervyn departed for town at 0930. Howard did his banking and then worked on the website. Mervyn returned for a late lunch and then edited his films. We went to the hotel for another superb evening meal. Wednesday at 0745 we drove out of the hotel, and we were very agreeably surprise to clear the capital city in three quarter

s of an hour. We followed Ruta 1 south and had a good journey, it was well signposted and had a good road surface. Encarnación was reached mid afternoon but it lacked signs, having asked twice we found ourselves on Ruta 6 heading north-east. Just short of Hohenau we were stopped by

a police check, the policeman said that we were not allowed to drive a right hand drive vehicle in Paraguay. He kept us for twenty minutes repeating the same words and then let us go. As we entered Hohenau we saw the camping sign for Manantial Park and entered to camp at 1600. Thursday was a cold night -1°C when we awoke, just outside the tropics, 27° South. We were grateful for the electric fire. We left the camp at 0915 to visit The Jesuit Missions near Trinidad on Ruta 6. The first Mission, Jesús de Tavaragüe was well preserved and set out. The second in Trinidad was less well preserved and not so well set out. We returned to the camp in time for lunch. In the afternoon Mervyn continued with his editing and Howard entered his new photos on to the computer. Friday with another border to cross our departure was early. Our first stop was at the fuel station and then we headed north-east for Cuidad del Este. The journey passed without incident and we arrived at Cuidad del Este by 1245. We joined a traffic queue and proceeded slowly to the Brazilian border, there were no sign for the Paraguayan border. It took an hour and a quarter to enter Brazil, most of the time waiting for an official to complete the entry papers for the caravan. We drove into Foz do Iguaçu, asked our way and soon ended up at the camp site where we booked in. It rained for most of the day.

Saturday 17^th it rained most of the night and continued raining into the day. We decided to stay in Foz do Iguaçu and visit the falls tomorrow, we did take a taxi to the supermarket. It rained all day. Sunday we woke up to silence, no rain. As the sky was still overcast we decided to travel north and to visit the falls on our return south. The day passed uneventfully, still no rain, we did get occasional glimpses of the sun. Towards the end of the day a whistling noise became apparent when the engine was under power, usually while climbing hills. At Campo Mourão we stopped in a garage for the night. Monday we asked at a Mercedes garage for an Iveco garage and we were told that the nearest one was in Maringá. We drove to Maringá and found a Fiat garage, they directed us to an Iveco garage where we spent the rest of the day sorting out the repaired tube for the turbo and having an engine, gearbox and rear axel oil changes. We stopped in a local fuel station overnight. Tuesday started early, we drove to Londrinaá where we turned north on secondary roads. On the whole the surface was good. We rejoined the main road at Presidente Prudente, headed west and crossed the eleven km causeway over the River Parana to stop in Bataguassu in a fuel station at 1530. Wednesday another early start, we left the fuel station and continued west on Ruta 267 to turn north onto Ruta 163 and finish at Campo Grande in The Hotel Galli. We had to book a room with electricity and shower, we tried to book a tour into The Pantanal, the Tourist

Office sent us to an agent at the bus terminal, the agent was closed. We returned to the hotel. Thursday we took a taxi to the Tourist Office at 0800, they phoned another tour operator who came to collect us. The tour was acceptable and the agent took us back to the hotel to move our caravan for safe keeping while we were away. He then took us to a bank to draw out cash to pay for the tour. The bus departed at 1030 for a six hour journey, it stopped for lunch at Miranda and then continued to the vehicle change over point. We waited forty five minutes at road works. Half the road was closed and the road works were eighteen km long. The change over point was at the end of the road works. At the lodge we had dinner and then went on a moonlight tour looking for wi Image1090m

ldlife. We did see many red eyes at one point, Caimen?   Friday the day started with breakfast at 0700 and a look at an Anaconda, which was free but in an out building, we departed for a boat trip at 0740. On the drive to the boat we saw many Toocans in the trees beside the road. From the river we saw a large variety of Kingfishers many Wood Stork, a Black Collared Hawk and many other birds. We stopped to photograph an Iguana at the top of a tree and three monkeys in another tree, we also saw two Black Caimen. We puled into an inlet where two Capivaras were resting. Howard and Mervyn went ashore while the four Danes fished for Pirana. We returned to the dock to a change of plan, back to the lodge for lunch, on the way we saw a large group of Black Caimen and a Lesser Anteater. Lunch was very good. We saw some Green Parakeets in the ladge grounds. In the afternoon Johnny, our guide, took us for a walk it was through fields and woodland. We passed within ten feet of a Black Caiman and we also saw a group of Black Howler Monkeys, a Coati Mundi, a few Ibis and a Lesser Anteater. There were also many varieties of Birds. We did see two day old tracks, Puma or Jaguar. We had to wade through a foot of water at one point.

                          Saturday 24^th after breakfast we went horse riding. The horses were very docile and walked all the time. We saw two pairs of Tuiuiu, (Jalibu Storks, white with a black neck and head), as we rode along. After three quarters of an hour Howard’s legs were beginning to hurt, a quarter of an hour later we all stopped for a break. The group, except Howard went off to look for Monkeys. When they returned everybody mounted and we all set off, the guide was leading from half a mile in front, even out of sight letting the horses follow on the way home. Half an hour later Howard’s legs were too painful and he dismounted, the group left and Howard sat in some trees out of the sun. During the ride we passed through several lakes the depths varying up to four feet. A truck arrived twenty five minutes later to take Howard back to the lodge just as the riders walked in from the stables. In the afternoon we went fishing, Howard fell down the steep bank and gave up. Mervyn returned to the lodge an hour later, leaving the rest still trying to catch a fish. We went for a walk to the lake by the lodge and saw three Roseate Spoonbills. Sunday the others went for a walk, we watched The German Grand Prix on the TV. Then Mervyn went for a walk and Howard worked on the web site. After lunch we left the lodge at 1330 for the camp where we arrived at 1400. We left the camp at 1430 for the vehicle change over point. On the way we saw several Black Caimen, a Black Collared Hawk and three Tuiuiu. We arrived at 1520 and transferred immediately to the final vehicle, a brief stop at Miranda for refreshment and we were back at the caravan by 1930. Monday we shopped, not very successfully and left Campo Grande after tea break. With an uneventful journey north we stopped at a fuel station in Coxim. Tuesday we continued north on Ruta 163 as far as Rondonópolis where we turned east onto Ruta 364 to Alto Garças to camp in a fuel station. Wednesday we continued east on Ruta 364, the worst paved road in South America, so far. At Jatai the road changed to Ruta 060. In Rio Verde we stopped at an Iveco garage as the bonet release was not working, it was fixed free of charge in forty five minutes. The overnight stop was at Acreúna in a fuel station. Thursday we left early and headed north east to Goiânia, at Goiânia we turned north west to visit Goiâs, the first capital of the state. The camp site was unfindable so we parked and Mervyn set off to tour the town. On his return we drove south east towards Goiânia looking for a fuel station, none appeared possible except when we entered Goiânia. We stopped there. Friday as we were manoeuvering to leave the fuel station Howard heard a noise from the rear right wheels, Mervyn checked the tyres and found one very low, we pumped it up but Howard could still hear a noise. We visited a tyre repair shop, where they removed and checked both tyres at the rear right of the van, they were OK. We were then taken to a mechanic who dismantled the rear right half shaft. He had to return it using a hammer. Mervyn did a drive round check. As he left the mechanic’s a loud bang was heard together with a loud squeeling noise. We sent for a transporter to take us to Aparecida de Goiânia where there was an Iveco garage. We arrived at 1800 and settled down for the night.

                          Saturday 31^st we were ready to move into the workshop by 0800 but did not move until 0915. We spent the rest of the morning in the caravan while they worked on the rear axle. At 1200 the garage closed for the weekend we were driven to the bus station so that we could catch a bus to Brasilia. The bus left at 1300 and arrived at 1540. We took a taxi to the Bittar Inn and booked in for three nights. As there is no restaurant at the Bittar Inn we went to a food mal for dinner and had a Chinese meal.

BRAZIL-Brasilia

Howard and Mervyn's world tour.