Hello All!

My name Jake. I'm 22 and from New York City. I just landed in Iguassu in Southern Brazil, where I am buying a 200 cc enduro and planning to ride to Rio, where I am taking a Portuguese Intensive. I have a few questions:
I would like to make it to Rio by January 7th, and am trying to plan out a route. I would like to hit a fair amount of dirt on the way. In addition, my friend is flying into Sao Paulo the 29th. He is going to rent a bike, and ride it to meet me . We will do a loop that starts and ends in Sao Paulo (figure 4 or 5 days) at which point he will take a bus to rio and I will continue on my own. I was wondering if anyone had route recommendations, as well as resources that would help me find good dirt and secondary roads.

I will leave Rio around February 15th, after Carnival. I was planning on going north, passing through Bahia and perhaps attempting the trans amazon. Would that be at all possible in the spring? Any good route recommendations or resources I should look at?

Thanks for any help! I really appreciate it!

Best,
Jake

Brazil, my favorite country in South America! You will soon find out for yourself. For me, it is the people. Brazilians are the friendliest people that I have ever met.

How much time to you have to ride Brazil and what is your exit plan?

Your plans sounds like fun. Consider going further north for carnival. From what I understand Rio will be packed and more expensive. Plus, the parades are more commercial. Its a ride to get there, but consider going to Recife. Instead of watching the parade, you will be in it. Again, this is second hand advice, but from Brazilians. I had to take a break from my trip in 2013 and fly home, missing carnival in South America... My guess, you could have a great time in many cities, but personally I would go to a smaller city. Its like going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, yeah its fun, its the big place to go, but you have to deal with a huge crush of people... Better example, go to New York City to see fireworks on the Fourth of July or a small town way out on Long Island. You get the picture.

Trans-Amazonian Highway - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Recife to Humaitá to ~3900 miles. At least the first third of the TAH (from Recife) is straight up paved highway, nothing to write home about. Recife to Picos, is definitely not dirt, I rode this stretch coming from Parque Nacional dos Lençóis (up on the Caribbean coast, amazing sand dunes...)

https://www.google.com/#newwindow=1&...%C3%A7%C3%B3is

Think about riding north west from Rio and take in the country. Of course that idea eliminates going to Recife, but whatever... Get off the big highways, too many trucks.

Search with Google for "annual rain" + a few cities that are in the section of Brazil that you are thinking to visiting. The best time to ride the western TAH is June, July, August...opinions may differ. You should decided for yourself by consulting weather patterns. Should like you'll still be on the shoulder of the rainy season.

Here is an example:
Weather and Climate: Manaus, Brazil, average monthly , Rainfall (millimeter), Sunshine, Temperatures (celsius), Sunshine, Humidity, Wind Speed

I met a guy who had ridden BR-319 in the rainy season. He told a 300 mile mud story. Said he never dropped his bike so many times in a row his whole life, in mud. He had real bragging rights for doing it. You will want some good knobby tires once you get to the dirt...

Travel as light as you can. A hammock and a sheet of plastic takes up less place than a tent, and its all you need. Camp out at truck stops. Check in with the attendants, chances are they will say yes.

Cheers!

__________________
Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Hey man - thanks for the help. I've got until may 4th, and I'll have the bike and be leaving monday most likely. The only fixed thing on my agenda is a Portuguese intensive in Rio from Jan 7th until early Feb, and I need to be in rio through Carnival because I may need to return to NYC for an interview. The transamazon is just an idea - i was also thinking of looping back around and trying to do a month or so of patagonia at the end of my trip. Right now I am planning on heading to Florianopolis on monday or tuesday, then heading to Blumenau, then the serra da graciosa and continuing to head up the coast to meet a friend by sao paulo and do a short ride together to paraty. Do you have any other recommendations? great roads?

Having just seen Iguassu you may be over dosed by waterfalls. I haven't been there, but have read about a crazy long water fall south of Iguassu, called Salto do Yucumã. The edge of the waterfall runs almost parallel to the river, making for a very long waterfall. Not as dramatic as Iguassu, but very unique.

Here is what it looks like:
https://www.google.com/maps/views/vi...tch=77&fovy=75

Few people mention it and its hard to find a website in English that describes it. I suspect it is not a greatly developed tourist site. Here is the Wikipedia page in Spanish that you'll have to run through a translation, ex Google Translate or just use Google Chrome and it will translate on the fly, when it works...

Salto do Yucumã – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre

Its ~214 km south of Iguassu, a solid days ride as I am guessing the roads are not highway grade.

https://goo.gl/maps/gDy3R

General thoughts:

I loved Argentina, but would recommend not going to Patagonia in March. It will be getting into the cold season, in a place where it can snow in summer (December/January.) Its ~1500 miles from BA to TdF, and ~1500 miles back. That is like riding from NYC to LA, on mostly long boring roads, a little excitement, then more long boring roads. I'm going to get in trouble with those that loved the trip, so I'll stop here.

Are you planning to visit Brasília? It is not a pedestrian friendly town as the buildings are spread out, making walking from one place to another difficult. You, on the other hand, have a motorcycle. I wanted to go there to check out the architecture, but my schedule wouldd not allow it...

If you make it to Bahia, there is a cool little beach town just south of Pôrto Seguro, called Arraial D'Ajuda. I recommend it. Pôrto Seguro is more commercial, not as hip.

Wish I could recommend some rippin roads, but sadly I was covering lots of ground running the length of the country. I stopped for several days in Recife, then south of Salvador in a little town called Itacaré, then a few days in Rio while the BMW dealer wasted my time for a few days...

The roads are out there. Sometimes Brazilians jump in and start making suggestions...

Another tip, sign up for Couchsurfing.com if you haven't already. Brazil was the most welcoming country for me. I was invited to stay with people right and left. Mention your adventure and post an itinerary a few days out to cities where you are headed. It a great way to meet local and get an insiders tour.

__________________
Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Hi Peter,

I'm interested - have you been to Patagonia in March or just making an estimation? I just wonder because I've been told March/April is a good time due to lesser winds and farm, far fewer tourists. I've no intention of going to TDF, just mainly the national parks, glaciers and of course returning up north via the carreterra austral.

We may see you down there RTW, we will be there the same time with the same approach for weather and tourists.

Cheers Andi

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Sound mate! Are you taking the R40 or the Atlantic coastal route? I'd obviously like to drive the siete lagos route but then the coastal route seems relatively 'unexplored' - maybe most skirt the Andes for good reason?