Rolls Alaska to Argentina & back: 2 Ilha de Itaparica to Maceio, Brazil

Saturday, April 16, 2011

*Miles for the day: 427 (687 km) Miles to date: 14,239 (22,915 km)*

Federico got up to say goodbye when we left with breakfast sandwiches he provided by 6:15AM. We had gone only a few miles when we hit rain. It poured buckets for more than half the day - so much for my car washing efforts! Highway 101 was in reasonably good shape but once we passed the four lane highway into Salvador the truck traffic was right up there with highway 116.

Some of the truckers make crazy drivers look sane. Three times during the day we had to pull off the road onto the shoulder because trailer trucks were passing lines of other trailer trucks on our side of the road, with no intention or chance of moving back into their lane. They don't seem to care. Inevitably, we were held up by two accidents, both involving trailer trucks. One loaded with sugar left the road and rolled down the bank almost out of sight, but another which destroyed three trailer trucks closed the road and traffic was backed up 3 or 4 kilometers (1.9 to 2.5 miles) in each direction.

When we arrived at the end of the line, a couple of cars pulled out and drove a long way down the line of trucks on the wrong side of the road. This seemed a good idea, so I followed them until there was a gap between two trucks we could fit in. We were talking to various truckers in whatever language or method of communication we could, and after about 20 minutes they were gesturing that we should carry on down the wrong side of the road. It was too good an invitation to pass up, so away we went again, advancing a long way before we had to pull back in. After awhile with a new group of truckers I decided to give the shoulder a try, and managed to get within a half a dozen trucks of the front of the line.

I walked past one smashed truck on its side. It had been carrying bulk kernels of corn, which were scattered all over the road and ditch, and were being furiously gathered by people with boxes, bags and anything else that would hold corn. Further were two other trailer trucks that seem to have hit head on. The remains filled most of the highway, but beyond them was open road. A narrow gap between the wrecks was blocked only by a big tow truck, but it moved to a different position while I was walking back, so I decided to give getting through a shot. I pulled onto the wrong side of the road, drove over some piles of corn being gathered, swerved around the first truck, eased around the other two and pulled back onto the correct side of the road past the wrecks where I was promptly pulled over by a very officious young policeman. Apparently what I did was not generally accepted procedure, even in Brazil.

Car documents and passports were demanded, and he went back to the police cars were with the documents. I passed the time talking to bystanders and taking truckers photos by the car with their cell phone cameras. Eventually an older policeman approached with our documents in his hand. He handed them to me, and spoke his first words - "Rolls Royce?" He then wanted to see in the car, know the year, and wished us a good journey. The young cop was definitely not happy as we were cheered on our way by the gathered crowd.

When we came to the site of the second wreck the line-up was moving slowly, but the area was full of horse carts, wheel barrows and people with sacks of sugar over their shoulders making off with all they could from the wreck. They seem pretty organized. It made me think of the stories I've read about communities that survived by the spoils of shipwrecks!

Brazilian speed bumps are right up there with the Guatemalan ones. Many we crossed caused the gut wrenching crunching, scraping sound as the Rolls dragged its underside over the massive humps. We had the muffler rattling problem solved in Costa Rica, but it is back big time again, torn apart by speed bumps. They even have series of them on divided four line highways! Usually there is a warning either 200 (656 ft) or 300 (983 ft) meters before the bump so speed can be reduced from the 110 kph (68 mph) speed limit to zero!

It was a horrible day of driving. The road was loaded with speed bumps, construction zones and detours in addition to the frequent downpours of rain. What we thought would be a 6 hour drive took over 11 hours.

Mario Leao, a car collector friend of Claudio and fellow Rolls Royce Owner's Club member had arranged to meet us when we reached Maceio. He called us on the cell phone when we were close, giving us directions to the Brisas Hotel, owned by a friend of his. We arrived, dirty and sweaty from being in the car with the windows closed during rainstorms, but that didn't slow him down. His friend had arranged for the best room in the 5 star hotel for us at less than half price. The entire front wall of the 6th floor room has floor to ceiling windows looking out over golden sand beach, palm trees and the ocean. Mario headed home to give us time to get cleaned up, and then returned to have dinner with us in the hotel restaurant.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Marilynn and I swam in the warm ocean in the morning, and then had a light lunch at a beach side restaurant. Mario picked us up in the early afternoon for a tour of part of the city and a chance to look at his collection of cars. One that really impressed us was a 1939 Delage, a beautiful, sporty French car that I'd never seen before. Among the others were a 1957 Bentley, which is similar to my Rolls, and a 1950 Rolls Royce. When we returned to the hotel it was to pick up my Rolls for press photos and an interview. Fabio, the report, liked the car a lot and took dozens of photos.

Later Marilynn and I went for another swim after arranging to follow Mario's chauffeur to his house the following morning. Dinner was at an open air restaurant beside the beach, where we watched net fishermen working in the ocean in the reflected light of a full moon. It was a marvellous evening.

Tomorrow we start to make our way to Belem, on the Amazon River.