English

Motivation

The title of this chapter would be 'Introduction' , but I preferred to switch it to 'Motivation', that's what I'm talking about: What motivates a man to visit countries from which little is said about and when one finds a comment this is usually negative?

Excuse me dear reader , I asked the question but I have no answer. If I had it would be something as complex as this:

Historical , geographic and cultural interest , plus the pleasure of riding a motorcycle and especially, the desire to know the people who lives on this countries or who we'll find on the way.

For a long time I had this desire to visit Oiapoque . I kindly look this piece of the map of Brazil from the time that the road from Macapa to Oiapoque was mostly not paved. On other trips that I made to the North of Brazil I always considered the option to go there. But could never fit the time needed on the vacations I had.

During my research on this region I found information not only of the extreme north of Brazil but also about the almost unknown neighbors , the Guyanas and Suriname . The more I read the more I wanted to face the route I called Amazon Loop that would take me from Oiapoque to Boa Vista passing through French Guiana , Suriname and Guyana .

The years passed and the roads conditions improved considerably in this route. Currently from Macapa to Oiapoque there is only 110 km of dust road. The crossing of the Oiapoque river from Oiapoque-Brazil to Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock on French Guiana is made on a ferry and not in the canoes anymore. The bridge is ready but closed because of the lack of infrastructure on the Brazilian side. French Guiana and Suriname roads were recovered and are fine . Between the two Guianas and Suriname are regular and reliable ferry services . What was to be the worst road in South America , the link between Georgetown in Guyana and Bonfim on the border with Brazil , today is a regular dust road that may present some difficulty to travelers only in the rainy season .

All in account there was no reason to postpone this trip. It was only a matter of choosing the season with less chance of rain, mainly in Guyana. The months of October and November were chosen, little rain in Guyana, but I knew on my way back I would get some rain in Brazil .

The research and a lot of motivation came from the website '1000 Days '. It's about the story of a couple who are traveling the Americas and wrote very interesting things about the Guyanas and Suriname . Other references may be found here.

Well, let's stop talking and let the story roll. I'm not good in prose and preferred writing in diary format , as a end to beginning blog!