Day 16 - Boa Vista - Manaus:
Fact Sheet: 802 Km
Boa Vista - Rorainópolis - Equator - Waimiri-Atroari Indian Reserve - Presidente Figueredo - Manaus
Home Sweet Home!
We were up and on the road and filling our tanks by 08:30, and made the best of great driving conditions: clear and cool, sparse traffic, and few clouds. We knew that we were heading back into the Amazon, and it was a likelyhood, that we were going to be caught by some tropical showers that could slow us down drastically. We made the best of it, and were in Rorainópolis shortly before noon, where we filled up again for the last time before reaching Manaus. Rorainópolis, also known as "Quinhentos" ("five hundred"), earned itself that nickname, as that is the distance in Km it lies from Manaus. To us, it meant that we were leaving a realtively good 300km stretch of the BR-174 behind, and would have the worst 100Km ahead of us, until we got to the Equator. Luckily, we tackled it without problems, and had a quick stop at the Equator by 13:30 for some snacks and refreshments. Three quaters of an hour later, we entered the Waimiri-Atroari Indian Reserve, and at 15:30h, crossed the state border into Amazonas, much to the delight of us all. Once in Amazonas, we had some occasional showers, but were lucky not to be caught in any serious rains. As the motorway is in a reasonable condition, we made it to the zero mark of the BR-174 at 17:40h, and therefore were in Manaus just as the rush-hour started. Here, our fantastic adventure ended, with only one certainty: we all want to return to Venezuela, by car!
Events:
| We saw some bush-fires along the motorway in southern Roraima. It is sad and depressing to see, that the authorities are far from vigilant and the locals certainly do not restrain from the century-old "slash-and-burn" agricultural habbits. |
Pictures:
