While tinkering with a broken pedal on my bike I see a familiar face come by…and atop his head is my very hat that was lost in the jungle 4 days ago!
Don´t worry, just having fun with this title. I have taken time in Jacareacanga on the Tapajos river to slow down a little bit, nurse a low grade fever I´ve developed, and get my hair trimmed with a straight razor for about 1.50$ US.
When morning came to the work camp in the Parque Nacional Da Amazonia I walked to the road with my bike. I pedalled less than 100m and had to carry it back on my shoulder and throw it in the river to clean off the mud. I´d have to hitch a ride out of the mire with the boss man and his employee, who was literally riding shotgun.
Deep into the Parque Nacional Da Amazonia I came face to face with one of the Amazon´s big cats. I had just finished a 12 hour day on the bike. I was trying to make some good distance through some of the most remote part of the jungle on the TransAm. My camp was set up and nightfall was less than 30 minutes away as a thunderstorm was just beginning. Then I heard the punctuated roars.
*After some further research, I most likely saw a Jaguar. Pumas, although similar in size, are not part of the big cat family since they cannot roar. What I saw that evening could in fact roar.
When I reached the Tapajos River and the ferry to Itaituba there was a makeshift road block and a protest taking place. Evidentially cyclists were immune from the protest and I crossed with some minor harassment from a very tactile Tranny on the ferry boat. I don´t think spandex shorts are common in rural northern Brazil and maybe I´ve been giving off the wrong impression!
*Correction: He wore semi-permanent facial paint, not tattoos. This is typical among Indians of the Amazon, usually a skilled learned by the females of the tribe.
From the fires and horse battles of Ruropolis I headed further west into more hills. I think the most memorable part of my journey will be the endless hills of the TransAm. I passed a hunter during the day with the creature that had woken me in a naked frenzy many nights earlier. He had bagged two and called them Pacas. In the photo we see the white underbelly of one, both were beheaded.
I spent three days from Placas to reach Itaituba on the Tapajos river. The road did not improve of course and everyday seems to add a new element to my riding misery. It starts with heat, then dust, then hills, then washboard surface and potholes, then traffic, then immense road construction and angry road greedy drivers all mixed together into the beatiful mess that is the TransAm!
With only 37 miles on my agenda for today I had time to take it easy. I tested my new Brazilian light weight woven cowboy hat, cracked open a Schin lager on the road, and watched the trucks roll past.
I left Medicilandia about an hour before sunrise for two reasons: I was sleeping above a rooster and the dogs in this town like to start fighting at 4:00am.
I left Altamira, X-Tudos, icecream, and beer behind me and hit the road again towards Medicilandia. I entered cacau farmland which is at least visually more appealing than cattle fazenda. While resting in a roadside hut I had the chance to speak to one of these farmers.
