Hi,

been a while since i've been on a proper adventure but something might just've come up. For work I will go to Paramaribo, Surinam in march. Roughly 3 weeks of work and then approx. 3 to 4 weeks of vacation is possible. Then work again.

I would love to do something wild & crazy, and knowledge or experience isn't stopping me now.

So. When in Paramaribo I'd thought of traveling overland to Manaus, with some sightseeing in the Roraima's. Then, it would be really cool if it is possible to sail down the river to Macapa. Not with a big ferry but with a dinghy you can rent or something. A small fisherman's boat. NEVER done anything like that before and I do want to live. No intention for a nightly drowning by moonlight.. So .. Would that be anyway possible - river wise? Pirates? Waterfalls and other problems that might occur. And then getting my hands on a boat?

Arriving in Macapa, sell/return the small boat, get the bike out of the boat. And ride back to Paramaribo.

Loads and loads of issues here at the moment, the largest being my wife thinking i'm nuts (well, that started a long time ago already...) and she thinks is impossible. But hey, when you don't research, you never go anywhere. Second problem is time. I propably have around 3 to 4 weeks, and it's still a vacation. So.. you know. Slow and relaxed is the tempo.

Anyone that can chip in is very welcome to do so. If not all possible (in the timeframe) - I might just stay in Surinam. If I do that, the wife will also fly in and we might just do jungle tours there. Currently I can't find a lot about it. If there are great roads/trips there, also very welcome to share these with me!

Kind regards

Blommetje

Your plan sounds in equal measures fun, challenging, uncomfortable and impossible.

"Traveling overland to Mauaus" means by motorbike? You're buying or bringing your own? "Sightseeing in the Roraimas" means crossing into Venezuela? You understand the current political and economic issues in that country? Or staying in Roraima Province in Brazil? "Slow and relaxed" means what, exactly? Have you experience in overland travel by bike? Do you enjoy it? And what do you want to spend your time actually doing: museums (which are mostly small and few in number along your route, but they do exist), trekking, shopping, local culture, fishing, satellite launch-viewing....?

The obvious difficulty with your plans is this concept of renting a "dinghy," which if you pursued it would transform the whole journey into a world-class epic adventure. That's a thousand km, more or less, along the Amazon, and although there are no waterfalls neither is there much infrastructure available to the casual boater. I'm guessing you'll have enough on your plate if you substitute a river boat for the dinghy portion; as an added benefit, your wife will still think you're crazy.

FWIW, my rough estimate suggests this is a three-week trip provided you keep moving along--longer (and potentially much longer) if you like to dally.

There is easily enough to do within several days' riding from Paramaribo, depending on your interests--four countries, a range of activities, cultures, historical remnants, natural wonders. Notably lacking--good motorcycling roads, mountains, and aside from one or two roads per country, infrastructure. It's not difficult to learn more about what's available, on this site or via Google--just settle in and start searching for it.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

This connected with my own reactions : )

Random ideas:

Guyana is known for corruption on the highways, bad roads, and slow going. Still doable (We haven't been however spent 5 days in Roraima with a Brazilian journalist who had just come from Guyana).

Roraima is outstanding; this area of Venezuela is less of a challenge than the rest of the country, however smuggling is a big issue and corruption is present. The Pemon guides are excellent for the Monte Roraima walk. Getting to Kerepakupai (Salto del Angel) means getting to Ciudad Bolívar first, through some areas which need care, however getting to waterfall is well worth it.

Be aware that the recent Venezuelan "referendum" has the potential to cause trouble for you in terms of having travelled through "occupied Venezuela". I have no idea how this is playing out on the ground, however it's worth looking into.

The highway from Boa Vista to Manaus is know as the worst federal highway in Brazil, although it's not bad. Crossing the reserveof the Waimiri Atroari you may have to talk to the entry gate people - you're not allowed to stop at all, take photos/videos/recordings of any kind, and must cross in daylight (it's absolutely beautiful, by the way).

We travelled by river boat from Belém to Manaus in 5 days; I'd guess that it wouldn't be that tough to buy a small boat, and there are no real challenges in terms of the river itself, other than the fact that there are ocean-going vessels ploughing along at a good speed and small boats need to be careful of them - going downstream you'll travel more slowly near the bank however it will be safer. I have no idea whether you need any type of licence or permit.

From Macapá north I've been only as far as Amapá, however understand that the road is OK, and the new(ish) bridge across the river makes the crossing into Guiana easy.

"Guyana" Thanks for comments from experience - I should know better than to report hearsay I guess.

""BR319 "Boa Vista to Manaus is know as the worst federal highway in Brazil, although it's not bad. " NO its not bad!, it is fu--ing awful!, even in the dry season you will likely damage something."

I guess it's deteriorated further. We didn't find it that bad, compared with many, however we are probably used to some pretty bad roads.

""...reserve of the Waimiri Atroari you may have to talk to the entry gate people - you're not allowed to stop at all" meaning: boring straight road with shitty pavement, roadworks, and bully trucks, stop anywhere, nobody cares, but there are no reasons to stop. Beautiful? was there 3 weeks ago, I didn't see the beauty?"

I'm really sad to hear this, based on your recent experience. When we crossed into the reserve it was like going from black and white TV to colour TV - stunning! I guess the continued invasion of pristine forest by "civilisation" has destroyed another jewel.

""From Macapá north I've been only as far as Amapá, however understand that the road is OK" NOPE the road north of Amapa it worse than the BR319, however the really bad bit is only 220 KMs and in the dry season is a total vehicle destroyer, doable if you go SLOW average 25 km/h to protect the bike/car"

Good advice, thank you.

I suppose it's all subjective, like most stuff. The road north of Amapá was (10+ years ago) difficult in spots, but traffic was mostly commercial trucks, and the drivers helped each other (and me) freely. They described this one-day trip as having taken many days or a week before the "upgrades."

I didn't find much that was appealing in Georgetown, but it wasn't quite the pit described above. Corruption in Guyana was definitely present, but more subdued than many places. The road between Linden and Lethem was often beautiful, only rarely very muddy, and the lodge I overnighted at just south of the river ferry more beautiful still--plus I had an over-water cabin very cheaply as a walk-in. That area is famous for jaguar sightings, but I saw none.

Since the OP asked in part about sightseeing and jungle tours, I'll just repeat that there is plenty to stay busy with if your interests are broad--architecture, varieties of culture, the space center, waterfalls, rivers and jungles, history.... And I'll qualify my own prior opinions about the Amazon-by-dinghy concept to say that if confident in one's ability to load and unload a motorbike, find places to stay enroute, steer clear of cross-cultural misunderstandings and evade parasites, well, who am I to argue?

Subjective, as I said. Self-assess for ruggedness and flexibility, then decide.

Thank you all for the replies. I was away for Christmas so a bit late to reply.

Spoken with my employer and the requested leave was not approved as I hoped. Some leave, but not all of it. Therefor it will only be two weeks. Way short to do anything dumb/amazing.

On the plus side of things! I did manage to talk the Misses into coming over for those two(and a half?) weeks!! She has never been outside of anything less comfortable than a luxurious hotel and never outside of western Europe. SO. She wants to starts doing adventures with me, but not start with something really extreme. Therefor, we will stay in Surinam, book a tour of 14 days or so of travelling in the jungle, but still organized/safe and with more or less a degree of comfort.

Not exactly what
I was hoping for, but traveling together is probably more fun in the end. And will build the relationship (or end it..) and hopefully getting her excited for other travels is very much worth it!

I have a small campervan and she loves roaming with that, and now there is some careful talk of perhaps in a year or two going on the road for a month or two/three or something like that. (If we get a toilet installed.. she's not budging on that one.. )

So, ergo; Everybody wants adventure. They just need to discover the fun of it.

Will post in April some awesome pictures of the misses being afraid of the jungle and all animals within it!

Thanks!

Blommetje