Our Journal
May 4, 2005 Bariloche
Once up top the views expanded in all directions, the lake below, mountains in every directions, some white capped, some volcanoes with the tops blown off. read
April 2005 Junin de Los Andes
An old cowboy saw me and rode over asking me where the hell I was coming from, and probably wondering why the hell I was hopping all over the place. read
April 2005 San Rafael
We arrived in Zapala in the afternoon and couldn’t find any people. They take siesta very seriously. read
April 2005 Mendoza
The trail quickly turned into a river hike that you follow, hiking up, climbing, and hopping stones. We passed a lot of mini-falls and after a couple of hours reached the main falls. read
March 2005 Cordova
Where were we? Europe? read
March 2005 Corrientes
He had completely missed the turn and driven straight into dirt, grass, and thick mud. We pushed the bike out, parked it and walked tire tracks. He had missed a pole by two feet and done some Paris-Dakar-like maneuvers but kept the bike upright. read
March 2005 Formosa
We saw less and less of the day, more of the night, and everyone started taking on vampire-like qualities. read
February 2005 Ausuncion
A well traveled looking old Canadian woman on her way to Paraguay saw us in the hallway with our helmets and asked, “Are you all going to write the diaries like that other fella?” read
February 13, 2005 Iguazu
...The name Frutal turned out to be telling, there were fruits all over the place... read
February 4, 2005 Brasilia
...There is a sector for everything in this town. Embassy sector, restaurant sector, government sector, park sector. Everything organized, neat, nothing to pedestrian scale… not human... read
January 31, 2005 Lencois
...At one mountain pass, traffic had stopped due to a semi that had wrecked and turned on its side. It was full of vodka bottles, many still intact, and as we rolled past we saw a mob of very excited young men grabbing as many bottles as they could carry... read
January, 2005 drive to Salvador
...The short cop was telling me I was going to have to pay a fine right about the time Carlos and his wife pulled up, they had seem me pass through town. Carlos grabbed my papers out of the cop’s hands, stuffed them back in my bag, and yelled and the cop for trying to fine a visiting foreigner... read
December, 2004 Granja II
...I had bought a pack of fireworks that day and decided to pull a few out before New Years. After watching a couple of the brothers light a few off holding them in their hands like roman candles, I gave one a try. All I remember is an explosion in my hand, extreme pain, and running from flames that I soon realized where my arm hairs being singed off... read
December, 2004 Fortaleza / Canoa Quebrada
...In the middle of the concert a group of mounted policemen started chasing a couple of guys right through the middle of the crowd. They ran two guys out of the crowd and chased them down the beach and trampled them with horse hooves... read
December, 2004 Jericoacoara
...There is a famous arched rock near Jeri that you can hike to. We set out in the middle of the day and started walking. After about an hour and half of walking through the dunes we saw two of Jodi’s friends go by in a buggy. They stared at us in disbelief asking why we were walking in the middle of nowhere, the rocks were in the complete opposite direction... read
Tail end of November, 2004 Granja (where?)
..."I see you have a compass on your watch, is that because sometimes you wake up and don’t remember where you are?"... read
Late November, 2004 Parnaiba
...The two women with him told us we would never get there on our bikes without a guide. Bah, we could see where the trail went off toward the dunes. We drove toward it only to realize it disappeared completely... read
November towards the end, 2004 Sao Luis
...We wandered out to where we had seen mobs of people around a stadium. It was a giant Bingo event with thousands gathered around an open area. I don’t think you could ever find such a mass of Brazilians completely silent... read
Mid November, 2004 Belem
...Matt performed the matador and bull dance. I ran around screaming for the proletariat to rise up... read
November something, 2004 Barge down the Amazon
...At night we climbed up on stacks of wood and counted over 20 satellites overhead. This was some of the most relaxed traveling I’ve ever done, floating down the river with nothing to do but get out of the sun and lie around in a hammock... read
September 30, 2004 Alto do Chao
...The history of the region was portrayed through dance, which, going by visual representation alone, since I couldn’t understand what the guy was screaming non-stop over the mic, looked like the Portuguese arrived, killed the men, stole all the women (wild applause), and made lots of babies. A bunch of princesses danced in, and then some dolphins stole some more women. We may have missed something.... read
September 2, 2004 Santarem
...What was I doing listening to these illogical people, people who didn’t seem to understand that time moves in a continuum? Peg-leg with my change was nowhere in sight so I wrote him off as a thief, dashed for the boat, jumped on the side and crawled in... read
August 24, 2004 Manaus II
...We ordered some beers which a guy brought over and he toasted with us. Soon after we all three realized that this was no bar, we had just crashed some woman’s 50th birthday party. We stayed a while since our “waiter” seemed very happy to have us... read
August 16, 2004 Manaus
...the two very smiley ladies told us I needed permission from Matt to drive this bike into Brazil so Matt looked at me and said, “Chris, you have permission to drive this bike through Brazil.” Smiles quickly disappeared and they pointed back in the direction of Venezuela... read
August 12, 2004 Santa Elena
...we had no idea that we would spend the next four hours, much of it in first gear balancing through road and the absence of. Many parts of the road had washed away or giant ditches had developed from the drain off... read
August 6, 2004 Caracas to Puerto Ordaz
...I relaxed into the drive and then hit a monster bump that jolted the bike and broke off one of the sideboxes. In the rearview mirror I say it roll and then spit its contents all over the road... read
July 23, 2004 Caracas still
...I saw a space to pass a whole row of cars. I gunned it and… BAM! – slammed the sidebox right into the back of an SUV which threw the bike the other direction landing right on top of the other box. The engine revved and I went down softly, unhurt... read
July 2004 Caracas
...here we are in Caracas taking care of last minute details before we head for the Brazilian border. Our departure date has been repeatedly pushed back due to the “manana” philosophy of getting things done here... read
contact us: chris@isabm.com matt@isabm.com
Quotes from Readings
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.
On a cycle the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it’s right there, so blurred you can’t focus on it. Yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness. Page 4.
I've never been more ready for this in my entire life... My whole life right here...
Lonely Planet Brazil page 666
Manaus.
"Asphalt and the Jungle" The Economist
You drive on whichever bit of the road seems least likely to tear off the undercarriage of your vehicle. During the six-month rainy season, when the road becomes a river of mud, men with tractors wait for you to founder and haul you out for a fee. read article