Travel Diary: Brazil Central Savannah (August 2022)

Our last travel diary ended at Ponta do Sauipe in Bahia, at that point we had been in Brazil for just over 3 months and had travelled roughly 6000km with most of it having been on the coast.  If the weather had been better we may have been tempted to push a bit further north along the coast but it was not and with an eye on the expiration of our 6-month visa, we had now decided to head inland and then ultimately southwards in order to explore these parts of the country over the remaining couple of months. The coastline along the north-east and northern most reaches together with the Amazon shall have to wait for a return visit.

Considering the vastness of the interior we had been forced to put a rough route and must-see destinations down on paper to ensure we didn’t both run out of time or wander around aimlessly.  The first destination we had identified was the mountainous area of Chapada Diamantina, a mere 500 km inland but at least two days driving considering the relatively slow roads in the region.  The last part of the drive is quite spectacular as you wind up, over and down the mountains and uncanny resemblance to the Cederberg mountains in South Africa had us slack jawed quite a number of times, even the rivers have a black tea colour to them. It had been some hard driving days in hot conditions but we were thoroughly enjoying the change of scenery and prospect off new vistas.

Even the little village of Mucuge where we planned to overnight could have been one of the small towns surrounding the Cederberg, just perhaps a little bit more funky.  The timing of our arrival in town was very fortunate as the campsite had just relocated and we arrived as the last campers were leaving the old one to travel to the new one and so we were able to join them and thus not get lost.  A lot of care has gone into creating the new campsite but although even though we didn’t stay at the original one, it sadly for us lacked the character and positioning of the one in town.  What it lacked in character was more than made up for by the friendliness of the owners and fellow campers, many of whom had been in the area for a couple of months already.  On our second night there a big get together had been arranged to celebrate the opening of the camp, to which were invited and the good news was that a number of the campers spoke English.  We have had a great time in Brazil but with our practically non-existent Portuguese the one aspect we miss in daily life is the ability to have free-flowing conversations with people (other than ourselves) on a regular basis, so apart from the good vibes and food being able to just chat with others made for a wonderful evening. As with the Cederberg, the Diamantina area is very much a hiking and upcoming climbing region, which are activities we don’t really partake in these days so after a couple of days it was time for us to move on.

Our next must-see destination that we had read about was the Jalapao region, which we had read was more spectacular than Chapada Diamantina and less touristy which in the case of the latter we were about to discover was most likely due to its remoteness and difficult access. This time we had 800km of tar and a further 200km of dirt to cover before getting there which would mean at least one night in a truck stop and thankfully just before the dirt section a couple of days in a little piece of paradise.

Overnighting in truck stops may seem rather strange to our average reader but in Brazil it is a common and necessary practice for overland travelers given the huge distances to be covered, while it is by no means a glamorous overnight destination we had so far found them to be safe and to have clean ablutions with free showers.  In addition, we feel a sense of community with the truck drivers, who are also sometimes travelling with their wives while living in their “mobile homes”.    On this leg of the journey though we got to experience a “less than great” truck stop:  upon arrival we didn’t like the vibe as it was quite dirty and filled with shady looking characters thanks probably to it being closer to a town than most of the others we had stayed at, but as it was late in the day and we were exhausted we decided to stay.  Needless to say, as the darkness arrived the “shadiness” got worse as some “ladies of the night” arrived which, in itself, wouldn’t have been the end of the world as they left us alone but halfway through the evening they started to congregate near Mr. Jones and hold rather loud conversations amongst themselves.  It was the one and only time on this trip that we were grateful not to be able to understand Portuguese…

After a very disturbed night another long day lay ahead but at least (based on pictures) we had a little piece of paradise to look forward to known as Lagoa de Serra.  Our GPS doesn’t show any roads leading to it and so once we reached the closest town it did it’s best to lead us astray by taking the most direct straight line to the lake but thankfully we found the correct dirt road leading out of town and after 45 minutes of following our nose drove into what was most definitely a piece of paradise.    Late on the second day a Brazilian couple arrived who could speak English and as with Diamantina a few days prior we made the most of being able to chat with people other than ourselves which made to a late start of our own braai but well worth it.

If we had known what lay ahead, we would have probably stayed a few more days at Lagoa de Serra but as we didn’t and expecting equal bits of paradise we left after just two days and headed into the sandy and dusty Jalapao region.  To get there we needed to traverse 200km of sand roads which varied from rough corrugation (washboard) to thick powder red talcum like sand.  While hard to appreciate when doing it in 40 deg heat and getting caked in a fine layer of sand, the drive is quite spectacular in that initially it crosses farmlands and then a bushveld like savannah.  The farmlands are spectacular simply for their sheer size and remoteness – maize and wheat fields stretch as far as the horizon and when we tried to measure the width of a field we would easily cover 6km before seeing a single break in the planting.  Signs at some small farm roads would indicate that the farmhouse itself was 50km away!

The main reasons to come to Jalapao are for its huge dune field with spectacular sunsets, its crystal-clear rivers (an ironic contrast to the total dryness around them) and its fervedouras.  As we were tired of being covered in dust and there was no camping near the dunes we chose to forgo those and rather find a camping spot with easy access to the latter two attractions in which to cool off, this we found at Prainha do Mambucca.  The river was wonderful to swim in and the fervedoura a bit freaky to float in.  A fervedoura is a very shallow karst spring which appears to have a solid sand bottom but in fact it is more like suspended sand which when you put a limb in creates the sensation that you could fall through the earth.  We have experienced such a sensation once before at the Kapisha hot springs in Zambia, but there the “suspended floor” area was always small pockets.

This video shows the awesome clarity of the rivers

And this video shows the “freaky” suspended floor of the karst spring

A downside of camping near the river was little miggies and flies that left a very painful bite (similar to our borrachudo experience many months before on Ilha Bela) so after a day and half of rest we decided to skip visiting more of the fervedouras and to move onto hopefully greener pastures.  The plan was to split the hot and dusty journey into two by staying at a campsite whose fancy looking sign (nice photos and advertising a pool) we had passed on the way in. Unfortunately it turned out that while the sign was still in very good condition no such campsite existed anymore and so we put our heads down and bolted southwards.

The journey out of Jalapao was not without its challenges – when during the hottest part of the day and in a section of particularly loose, deep sand Mr. J ran out of power and cut-out. A little over a year ago we went down a rabbit hole for quite some time when he would do a similar trick on a regular basis.  In that case we eventually found that the water sedimenter (a pre-filter close to the fuel tank) was full of gunk and that this was occasionally creating a blockage in the fuel lines, so suspecting the same thing, Stuart opened the sedimenter for a while to release any vacuum as a temporary solution.  The unfortunate thing of coming to a grinding halt in soft sand is that getting going again can be rather difficult as the vehicle “sinks into the sand” when it stops and as we were too lazy in the heat to deflate the tires we relied on Mr. J and his low range to get himself out.  When it works it is quite a cool feeling as you literally feel Mr. J struggle, then rise up on the sand and move forward.

The following morning, after another peaceful sleep in a truck stop, Stuart dismantled the fuel sedimenter and cleaned out the little bit of dirt that was inside.  Our intention at this stage had been to travel another 500km south to the Chapada Dos Veadeiros area but when the truck stop owner/manager come over to engage in conversation about our travels and subsequently recommended a little spot only 2 hours away we happily decided to break the journey up and have a short day.  We have come to learn that every Brazilian has a favorite place and often for good reason.  The place he had suggested was Rio Azuis, which as we discovered when we got there is Brazil’s shortest river at only 147m long but with a flow rate of 11000l per second and as its name suggests it is very blue.  

In the parking area where we camped at the river was Brazilian travelling on a motorbike with whom we had a few stunted conversations during the course of the day, thanks to the inability to speak each other’s language.  During one of these interactions he told us about, and showed us videos, of some cave he had visited the day before and offered to take us there if we wanted? So the following morning Mr. Jones followed his motorbike down a narrow dirt track to an isolated car park and we then happily followed him into the caves.   It was a really special morning as we were the only three in the cave, it was free (a rare thing in Brazil) and it was spectacular!

When we posted the pictures  and story on social media later in the day some family members who clearly have watched too many serial murder tv series were quick with the comments like “met a stranger in a camping parking lot, followed him down an isolated dirt road and into a cave, what could possibly go wrong..” but it had never even crossed our mind and is one of the beauties of travelling – meeting kind hearted souls who you know you can immediately trust and then sometimes others who you know you can’t.

By the time we emerged from the caves it was mid-morning and the temperature was already climbing well into the 30’s so after some quick goodbyes and trying our best to express our gratitude for such a unique experience we hit the road for our next destination, the little tourist town of Alto Paraiso de Goias and the Chapada dos Veadeiros natural area.  After a hot drive we were feeling quite frazzled but as we drove through town on the way to the campsite we had this feeling of calm and tranquility and suspected we could definitely make an extended stay.  After the dust and heat we had experienced over the last week the campsite with tall pine trees and grass was a little piece of paradise, as an added bonus there were two Brazilian motor homes their whose owners spoke English.  They were so hospitable and it was such a pleasure to be able to hold a normal conversation that on the first night (despite the very long day) we stayed up for a “kuier” until 1am.  During the course of the week we had many lovely chats, received lots of tips for the remainder of our trip and got to go on a shopping trip with them into town.  

A shopping trip may sound like a strange highlight but for Tania it was really helpful to go shopping with a Portuguese accomplice and receive hints and tips at the local produce and for Stuart it meant an opportunity to visit a hardware store and procure the necessary bits to build a water storage pipe on the front bumper of Mr Jones. We have an internal water tank but that is for clean drinking water which we don’t like to “waste” for simple regular tasks like hand washing, the water pipe now gives us 15l of general use water which we never have to worry about filtering, etc.

Apart from the sense of tranquility the town exuded, every time we wandered around town we were also struck by the number of alien pictures in shops and restaurants which seemed out of place, a little bit of research revealed that the area sits on a giant quartz plate which is believed to give off good energy and that these vibes together with a light emanating from it can be seen from outer space. Hence the alien theme.

All in all, it was great week with the cherry on top being when the owner of the campsite made enquiries on our behalf to see if we could get our COVID booster vaccines at the local clinic and then took us their and acted as interpreter for us.  Once again, a great example of the kindness of Brazilians.

Apart from the fact that we had needed some downtime from travelling the other reason we spent a whole week chilling was that Mr Jones had an appointment with a mechanic in the capital, Brasilia. Owning a Land Rover has its positives and negatives but one of its biggest positives is the community it creates, six weeks prior we had met a fellow called Clecio who had come out looking for us in Vitoria because his mates had spotted a foreign Landy in town.  Clecio is Brazilian and a landy fanatic who lives in Chicago USA but he had offered his help if we ever needed it, so when MR J started to need some work done which was more than a standard service Stuart got in contact and asked if he knew of any mechanics in the areas we were heading too.  He had arranged for us to visit Patrick, who we found out later is considered one of the foremost experts on the engine Mr J has, and so on Sunday we took a leisurely drive into Brazil capital in order to ensure we could be at Patricks workshop bright and early on the Monday.  When every time you need a mechanic, you are in a different location it is always a bit of gamble as to what you may get and usually Stuart prefers to hover around and observe the work but from the moment we arrived at the workshop we had a good feeling and happily left our home in Patrick’s hands as we headed off to an AirBnB for a few days.

The history of Brasilia is quite fascinating:  the concept of moving the capital to a central interior location was first proposed in the 19th century in order to lessen the economic and social reliance of the country on Rio de Janeiro but it was only in the 1950’s that construction actually started and then the central portion and all its infrastructure was built in an incredibly short 4 years.  At that stage it was designed as a city for the future, which meant all areas (office, residential and parks) were connected and divided by large free-flowing highways and interchanges.   Without a car over the next few days we can attest to how short that vision was in allowing freedom of movement on foot.  It is a very spacious city but in the some breath one that lacks intimacy, the parks are huge and largely lacking trees, the monuments are massive cold concrete structures and the roadways very busy but having said that it also seems like quite a calm city.  Our first impressions are therefore not a fair judgement to say if the vision of a city for the future was successful or not.

While Mr Jones was getting love and attention, we used our time to get many loads of laundry done, get haircuts, shop for body care items which you only find in bigger shopping malls and have a couple of meals out.  Tania will tell you, with a bit of drama, that one of these meals nearly cost her her life as Stuart/google maps made her cross three 4 lane highways in peak hour traffic with nor pedestrian crossings or traffic lights in sight – as we mentioned the city is not pedestrian friendly.

One reason we had wanted Mr Jones to spend time with a good mechanic is that he had been “drinking” coolant like we drink wine and in fact his usage had lately seemed to get worse.  With many “remote” kilometres ahead of us over the next months as we head south to Patagonia we had decided now was the time to get to the bottom of his addiction.  The issue has plagued us since just before leaving SA and Stuart’s worst fear was that it could be an internal issue (we are even carrying a full head gasket replacement set for this eventuality) so we were quite relieved when Patrick declared it was definitely not an internal issue and that after some changes of hose clamps to not be experiencing any pressure loss.

This was great news and meant that after two days in the shop we could collect him and now point his nose eastwards in the direction of the Pantanal.  Our excitement was relatively short lived as after a couple of days travel, the coolant levels started to drop again which meant a turnaround for a 500km drive back to Brasilia and the mechanic.  The coolant loss/usage was really starting to be a mystery as Mr J was running well and not overheating but there were no visible signs of leakage.  Even back at Patrick there was a lot of scratching of heads when after 2 hours of over-pressurizing the system no pressure had been lost and no leaks had appeared until eventually we spotted some small leaks at the bottom of the radiator.  While this meant another AirBnB stay while the radiator was repaired, it at least meant we had hopefully got to the bottom of the problem.

And that wraps up the month of August 2022

As usual below you can find links to other parts of the blog which complement the travel diary: