Hi everyone

I just wondered if anyone had travelled from Barcelona on the coast of Venezuela down to Brasilia in Brazil recently. We were thinking of going from Barcelona to Manaus then getting the ferry to Belem and then onto Brasillia. If so just wondered if you could fill us in on current road conditions, we have heard that the Belen to Brasillia road is really bad as is the Venezuela border to Manaus road, we would be travelling a long way on these roads so just wanted to check. Also what is the availability of hotels on these roads like, we travell quite slowly anyway so would be stopping on the way. I suppose there must be quite a bit of traffic are there any problems with road blocks?

Oh yea and we are in a Land Rover 4x4, so safe parking at hotels would be useful, if there are any hotels on the way.

Thanks and I look forward to your replies.

Jason

I did the Manaus to Santa Elena portion in January. I had to do quick since the Policia Federal gave me 3 days to leave the country.

As mentioned the road is seriously potholed but we did it in 2 days, even tho the repeated shocks broke some of my rear wheel spokes which ended up tearing the inner tube. The nearest "borracheria" was 60 km away but i had a spare inner tube and a brazilian farmer helped us dismount the wheel.

In Boa Vista, I got the whole rear wheel and spokes reshaped for 15 Euros, half the price of "original" new brake pads.

So basicly the road from the border to Boa Vista, is good. Not as good as on the Venezuelian side but still very good for the area. Passed Boa Vista, it gets potholed and you have to slalom between holes. It gets worse once you reach the Equator (parallel zero). You then reach a 120 km indian reservation that you can t cross by night with very bad road conditions. After the reservation, the road gets better and better till Manaus.

We stayed at the hotel Media Lua (half moon) in Boa Vista. 30 reales for 2 people and an EXREMELY helpful handicaped owner. We were out of cash and didnt eat for the whole day due to the motorcycle problem delay. He sent his son to a restaurant with us and paid for us (impossible to pull money off ATM in Boa Vista by night with a Visa Card). He found the proper motorcycle repair shop and placed an apointment. The atmosphere in this cheap hotel in the center of the town was very friendly. Many long term residents there.

There are some huts to rent in a village before you cross the indian reservation. Once again it s clean and fairly cheap (30 reales again). They have a restaurant with typical brazilian food for truckers.

I hope this help.

Philippe

Yea thats great just the info we needed. To be honest at the moment we are debating if it isn't best to ship out of Colombia, due to heavy rains making the already bad road conditions you have described worse. Dont want to give up but the thought of driving on shit roads for days makes me nervous.

Thanks

Jason

Heading north on my Honda 125 from Ushuaia, I rode east west from Brasilia to Porto Velho, good road. Then took a boat to Manaus. The Rio Madera is sufficiently narrow so that you can watch both banks: four days of hellish Brazilian pop music, vaguely edible food. From Manaus I rode east along the Amazon to Itacoatiara - good road. Manuas to Boa Vista is slow. Don't try slaloming the potholes. There are too many. You'll get caught. The potholes are deep and jagged. Clambering out of them rips chunks out of the rear tire - particularly if the load includes a fat old toad. I bought a new tire in Boa Vista. The road on to Santa Elena is fine. The border is easy though the Venezuelan Customs close for lunch. The road onwards from Santa Elena is good and runs through spectacular country. Venezuelan drivers are homicidal maniacs - all of them. Cops warn on Venezuelan TV of 35000 road fatalities. There is a description on my BLOG at home or message me for specifics - hotels, prices, whatever...
Good riding and have fun...

I wouldn´t worry about the roads,ok some pothole sections here and there in Brazil but that´s it. No mudfighting on the way at least, no need to build bridges.
An option would be to go from Manaus to Porto Velho (by ´balsa´) if the need is to go to Brasilia as this is quicker.