World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Brazil

[Basti] The area around Bonito offers basically all kinds of tourist attractions owned and advertised by their private landlords. So it's hard to find out which ones are worth visiting, especially since everything is set up for Brazilian tourists.
And I didn't have too much time because I had plans to meet up with Werner in Rio. I chose to visit the Cave of San Miguel the next morning.
Again I had to go with a tour, but this time it was possible for me to join right away. On our way to the entrance of the cave little monkeys said hello by jumping over our heads. The cave itself was nice, but the real attraction are the macaws who come here in large numbers because the guides feed them. Really beautiful birds and seeing them flying in a large group really is impressive!
I left the cave around mid day and rode through some remarkabel landscapes all the way to Campo Grande. As I still found the prices of hotels quite high, I went thanks to iOverlander to a little hotel called Atlantic Hotel located in some strange looking neighborhood. Again I was mistaken by the looks and got a warm welcome. The hostel was quite full with local workers, but everybody was super nice and they even offered me a super cheap home cooked dinner. A good place for travelers!
The next night I decided to camp again and thought I had found a nice place inside a corn field. The sunset was stunning!
But it rained during the night and the next morning I found myself closed in by big mud puddles! It wasn't far to the road, but still I wished Fabi and Denis were there...
Because with all the slippery mud it was clear that I would never be able to pick my bike back up. So I tried to be as smart as possible and carried some luggage over the puddle. Very carefully and slowly I made my way through and truly surprisingly to me I made it!
Took me the whole morning though!
After that sweating experience I still rode a long way but decided to find a nicer hotel for the night. In the tiny town Patrocínio Paulista I found the Hotel Havai and enjoyed a much needed super clean room with private shower.
My riding days were long and I was eager to see something again. On google maps the lake of Rio Grande with some canyons and a waterfall looked promising. Of course it meant for another little d-tour.
First I thought of trying to find a boat tour, but because of limited time and money I decided that a stop at the Canyon de Furnas would be enough. It was hard to see the people swim in the blue water while I was sweating in my suit ;)
I had lunch with a great view followed by riding hard to make some mileage towards Rio. After a night in Três Corações I discovered some huge termite hills next to the road. I enjoyed the twisting ride on surprisingly good roads through hilly terrain.

[Basti] My plan while riding north was to find at least one spot worth visiting per day. So my first idea was a Swiss museum not far from Rio. What I didn't know was that I would be driving through an area with lots of immigrants from central Europe. The biggest town I drove through was called Nova Friburgo and I had many funny sights next to the road like the estacionamento "Weg Bier". It's German and translates roughly to "beer to go". Sadly or luckily they had closed because this would have been enough reason to break the don't drink and drive rule ;)
The Casa Suíça displayed a few traditional Swiss items, sadly everything was only explained in Portuguese. But the real attraction was their food store and the restaurant. It's also a Swiss cheese dairy and butchery! Of course I couldn't resist. I ordered a cheese soup, a chocolate mousse and a hot chocolate. It was mind blowing! I also tasted some cheese and bought some gammon. This combined with the hilly and green terrain around it made me feel a bit like being in the Alps.
That's why I decided to find a place for the night. Again I couldn't resist and stopped at the Hotel Baviera. I had to wait a bit, because no one was there. When the elderly couple arrived I was greeted extraordinary friendly and they got me a huge private room with 5 (!) beds and a bath. Despite being the only guest they even made me hot coffee in the morning. A great little place!
The next day I enjoyed some small back country dirt roads but I soon realized that I wouldn't be able to make miles that way. Anyway in order to visit my next spot I had to do quite a d-tour. I tried riding as long as possible until the sun was down. I tried the gas station hotel just outside Mutum and was very pleasantly surprised. It was modern, super clean and at a reasonable price. On the downside I had to park my bike outside in front of the gas station. Well at that point I felt safe enough to give it a try and of course I was reassured one more time.
In the morning I headed to the Muriqui preserve. The turnoff was hard to see and almost overgrown. After riding in for a couple of hundred meters I reached a deserted visitor center. The only info I found was a sign with a very basic map.
I knew that the Muriquis (aka woolly spider monkeys) are really rare by now and this preserve is probably the best chance to see some in the wild. I left my bike and carried on by foot. Not really knowing what I should do or where I should go I just followed the track. I was in the middle of a dense rain forest with huge trees, big spiders and nice butterflies. Luckily a young student came by as he was observing the Muriquis. He spoke English and told me a bit about the apes.
Suddenly we heard some trees rustle and we could see one Muriqui pretty high up in the tree. He was moving slowly from tree to tree. We followed him and eventually more and more Muriquis jumped over our heads through the trees. It was a whole family! The student even recognized them by name! It was insanely fascinating to see how these big apes moved through the trees with such ease and calm. We didn't seem to bother them at all. It looked like the first Muriqui checked the path and the others followed him by taking the same branches. I even noticed a mother with her child. What an experience! So different and so much better than observing apes in captivity.
I felt incredible lucky and rode back to the main road to make some mileage. I drove again till nightfall and took the first hotel I found in Teófilo Otoni. The guy was friendly and his wife cooked next door in a small restaurant. But the room was super hot and pretty dirty so I slept bad. I obviously had already used up all my luck for today ;)

[Basti] I have been to Werners beautiful beach side flat in Pirangi do Sul already and I was looking forward to spend some days off my bike, just chilling and relaxing. And I wanted to organize my flight to Lisbon in the meantime.
A few days after my arrival we picked up my Olga from the airport and celebrated my birthday together the next day. The weather was surprisingly rainy in the first days, so we only visited the world's largest cashew tree (O Maior Cajueiro do Mundo) which was right next to our flat. We then went to Natal's Ponta Negra for a day of surfing and in the evenings we enjoyed several times Brazil's most famous Rodizio. Definitely a must do! We also got invited by Werners local friend Simone for a delicious dinner and home made cocktails.
During our stay Werner tried to get a handyman to repair some things in his flat. It took three days until he finally showed up, but then he didn't even bring tools with him... Werner wasn't surprised as this was the usual way it goes here. And this guy was known to be be one of the more reliable ones!
Well the work he was doing (some new silicone sealings) was so bad, that we decided to do it ourselves instead... During our stay we fixed not only the sealings in the bathrooms and the kitchen, we also exchanged light bulbs, both water faucets, one shower with heater and one air conditioner.
A must in Natal is a buggy tour through the sandy hills and along the endless beaches. It's a day of thrilling fun! On short breaks you can slide down zip lines and water slides or have a cocktail while sitting in a cool lake.
A ride to Pipa was also on our must-do list. Olga and I took the direct way on the beach with my AT! This meant driving on the beach for several km directly next to the ocean until we reached a ferry that brought us over a river to the next small town. It's always special to me to ride on a beach.
Pipa is a small touristy town full of creative art, easy living lifestyle and definitely worth a visit. Olga and I rented a small house a bit outside. During our stay we met up with Werner and Ulli on a secret dream beach and enjoyed cocktails and beers. Life is good :)
Btw. our favorite beer was called Eisenbahn! German for train. And it is as good as a German beer ;)
Sadly after not even two weeks Olga had to fly back. Thank you darling, it was wonderful!

And now it was about time to get my flight sorted, too! So far the rare responses I got were listing crazy prizes.
In order to find a crate for my bike Werner and I went to the next Honda motorcycle dealer. They welcomed us very friendly, but they couldn't help because they get the bikes delivered without crates.
But he knew a guy who also owns a new Africa Twin and he might be able to help. This way we went to the motorcycle club motoclube B-17 and met their president Márcio Antunes. He was extraordinary friendly and welcoming. He was not only fascinated by my trip but of course also very interested in my experiences with his beloved new Africa Twin. He called someone and promised he would have a crate tomorrow.
Knowing how Brazil normally works Werner didn't believe it one bit and after our experience with the handyman I tended to agree with him.
But at that time we didn't really know Márcio yet! The next day he texted me a picture of the crate at his club. Again a BMW 1200 GS crate. Perfect!
On Saturday he invited us for BBQ at the club and we met a bunch of members. They had a big workshop, a wash area where you could get your bike washed by two girls and a air conditioned bar with barber shop! Werner improved his Portuguese and I found Carlos, also an Africa Twin rider but able to speak English.
Everybody was very welcoming and wanted to help me in every way. They reached out to friends to see if they could also help me with my flight. Because so far I only had offers above 3000 USD to fly the bike to Lisbon. In the next days I went to the club several times to get something fixed, to clean it or just again to have some BBQ. In the mean time Werner and Ulli also had to fly back home but I was welcome to stay at his flat as long as I needed. Thank you so much Werner, it was so much fun and you helped me a lot! I also couldn't think of a better place to spend my last days on the American continent.
Carlos is originally from Recife and he came up with a friend who was able to offer me a much better price for the flight. But I would have to drive to Recife and get a new crate there. Still it looked like the best solution at the time and in order to still get a reasonable price I booked a flight for myself from Recife to Lisbon for Tuesday evening, May 8th.
Just the next day I finally got an offer from B&M Log to fly my bike from Natal for 2380 USD. That was cheaper than Recife and I had the crate and the support from Márcio. So I quickly decided otherwise and hopped that Danielle from B&M Log would be super fast! I myself would then take the bus to Recife to fly from there...
Well thank god Danielle was super fast and I could deliver my bike to the airport on Monday. That way I could strap everything into the crate at the club. Márcio helped me tremendously and his brother drove me and the bike to the airport. Yuri from B&M Log was already waiting with all the proper documents. Everything went smoothly even with my strange temporary import paper.
Back at the club Márcio even lend me his bike for the night! We then met up later for dinner at the Pizzeria Bari Palesi in Natal. We had a delicious and entertaining dinner together with his wife and his son. And boy his Africa Twin felt different than mine ;)
The next morning I drove to the club to bring Márcio his AT back and he drove me to the bus station where Carlos came by as well! I cannot thank you guys enough, it was an unforgettable pleasure to meet you!
The bus drive to Recife went as planned and I catched my flight to Europe.


On August 4th 2018, only a little more than a month after my arrival at home I got the infinitely sad message from Carlos that Márcio had passed away in a motorcycle accident. I am still heart broken and I will always remember him as the always happy and incredible helpful friend he was. There is a great homage on Youtube about him including a picture with me. I really regret that for whatever reason we never made it to go for a ride together.