By 6:15am we were already stuffing still warm sleeping bags into stuff sacks and deflating our mattresses. Parati is beautiful but Rio de Janeiro couldn’t wait any longer and the excitement was tangible. It seemed almost surreal that in only a few short hours we’d be riding into one of the most outrageous, vibrant and notorious cities in the world. Truth be told we were also a little nervous. Ah, well it just added to the mix.

With the side stands kicked up we quickly swapped the quaint cobble stones of Parati ancient streets for the now familiar sweeping bends of Brazils East coast road. The waiving uniformed arm directing us to the side of the road, 30 minutes in, brought our swift ride to a resounding halt. We’d been warned countless times about the corruption and difficulties with the Brazillian police, this would be our first encounter. Well, that was a pleasant relief; our young officer was quickly joined by four colleagues who enthusiasticall asked about the bikes and our journey. These guys didn’t even ask to see any paperwork and 5 minutes later they were wishing us well for our onward journey. Our policy of smiles and respectful handshakes, for the time being was still working.

We’d palnned to avoid the main BR-116 into Rio, we figured the coastal road in would be a little easier and the idea of rocking up on our bikes in Copacabana Beach was far too ‘cool’ not to do. As per usual ‘the best laid plans’ don’t work out. We ended up completely missing the turning and the BR-116 said…“ello’ and welcome. Please think of me as hotel California…you can get on but you can never leave”. We eventually gave up trying to get off and ended up playing dodgems with the locals all the way into Downtown Rio. I was cursing the fact that the Autocoms weren’t working and hadn’t been since we left Cape Town, problems with the leads and connections was causing feedback and made using them almost impossible. My frantic arm waiving was attracting peculiar looks from the cage drivers, I didn’t care. I just wanted to know that Lisa had looked up. One of the most recognizable stautues on Earth was welcoming us to his city. The vast ‘Christ the Redeemer’ Statue was smilling down. The hair on my neck was standing on end, we were really here! The signs for Copacabana were easy enough to follow and more by luck then design we found ourselves on the same street as the Hotel we were looking for, Rua Santa Clara. The Copacabana Sul Hotel was going to be home for the next two nights and weren’t going to waste any time. With the kids parked up and our kit literally thrown into room 404 we were heading out to explore Rio. With our time limited we’d decided to take a tour with Via Copa Tours’ the highlight being a visit to the ‘Christ Statue’. We’d bargained the cost down to 60 Reals each (£14 each), wich included pick up and drop off at the hotel and entance fee’s. The entrance fee to the statue alone was 35 Reals per person and we’d workd out that taxi fair would have cost us 40 Reals. So for an extra 10 Reals we get a professional guide and get to queue jump as tours get given priority. Yeah that sounded good. 30 minutes after being picked up and having driven the mind bogglingly hairpinned road to the top of the mountain, we climbed the last few steps and stood mesmerised at the foot this immense statue as Rio spread out before us as far as the eye could see. Flavellas merged into business districts and a sea of man made white and grey structures nestled into the mountainous coastline. To our right Rio’se huge cemetery dominates the Eastern hills that lead out to Sugar Loaf Mountain. This city truly ‘sprawls’! But wow, what a city. We enjoyed an hour at the staute, just taking in the views and trying to capture a photo or 3 of the Christ statue that would portry just a little of the ‘buzz’ we were feeling just being there.

The rest of the afternoon was spent touring down town Rio, the massive football stadium, the new Cathederal and last but not least the Carnival centre, wher e many of the wonderfully bizarre outfits are made for Rio’s largest spectacular in February.

We ended our day in style with a night time walk down Copacabana Beach. The romantic air was dulled slightly by the army issue ASP’s and a cans of pepper spray we were each carrying in our pockets, but hey, we figured why take the risk, Rio does come with a degree of risk. If we’re honest though, neither of us felt any more vunerable than walking around parts of London or Cape Town at night…you’ve just got to be a little careful not to make yourself a target.

Useful info if you’re visiting Rio:
Hotel details:
Hotel Copacabana Sol,
141 - Rua Santa Clara,
Copacabana,
Rio de Janeiro.
tel: 0XX21) 2549-4577
find it at GPS:

You can book Via Copa Tours with most hotels or you can contact Via Copa directly and save around 20 Reals on the hotel price.

Via Copa details:
Av. N. Sra.de Copacabana, 300 – B Copacabana
Rio de Janeiro
CEP 22.020-000
Tel: 2541-9987or 2530-8133
Email: viacopatur@yahoo.it

If you’re looking for something specific then we also met a great guide called Roque. Definitely worth a call if you’re in town and almost certainly able to cut some pretty good deals his Tel number is: 021 - 93413809

With breaky downed we headed down to Copacabana, as one does ?. The most famous beach in the world needed investigation. It was jumping. Every inch of sand was alive with people. Sun Worshippers, joggers, beach footballers and hundreds launching skyward on the dozens of beach volley ball courts. What a circus, the adonasis strut, flex and pose, while jogging effectidly whilst those who really should remain covered battle with disappearing G-strings and adjust escaping flesh desperate to escape the conifes of dodgy looking lycra shorts. Not nice? People watching heaven.

The Beach however, deserves it’s reputation as one of the best in the world. A long crescent of white sand nestled back into coastal suburbia and Hotel heaven. If you really want to push the boat out you can stay at Rio most famous Hotel, the Copocabana Palace, but at $400 per night it was a little out of our budget. We did have all kinds of imaginative plans but to be honest we ended up spending the morning on the beach drinking from fresh coconuts and just people watching. It was addictive.

By 4:00pm the yellow and blue striped taxi had dropped us off at the base of Sugar Loaf Mountain and we paid our 35 Reals each to board the two stage cable car to the top. The cable cars had bee made all the more famous by the James Bond film ‘Moon Raker’. Much like yestersay at the Christ Statue it felt bizzarely surreal to be aboard the cars and to be scaling the side of Sugar Loaf Mountain, mind you we felt equally in awe of Table Mountain and Cape Town when we’d first arrived. It’s just that these places have such monumental reputations, that when you first arrive it can be slightly over-whelming. We were loving every second. We spent the evening watching the Sun set behind the mountains as the day closed out over Rio de Janeiro. What a day.

Apart from playing tourist, our visit to Rio has a purpose. We’d had an e-mail from Steph a little while ago confirming that the seat and chain guide, etc from Touratech had finally arrived as had the Autocom leads that would allow us to use our comm’s again. Steph, our logistical guardian angel had arranged to FedEx the box to Rio. After a quick visit to an internet café yesterday to track the package it displayed…’in transit’. We were going to have to leave Rio as hotels were prohibitively expensive. So we’d planned to leave Rio and head out to Buzio to make base and ride back into the city and arrange to take delivery.

Packed up and on the road. The Sun was blazing. We’d been riding for 30 minutes and the heat was already getting to us. Our route East out the city looked simple enough, ride up the coast and head out over the massive Niteroi bridge. 15km of elevated concrete and steel leading out of the city. Hot and confused, yep that was us. It was Sunday and unbeknownst to us to accommadate the dramatic increase in pedestrian traffic, the city roadways get closed down and re-routed. We were going round in circles and getting nowhere fast.

The silver and yellow 1200GS we’d seen in our wing mirrors had pulled up alongside us at the traffic lights, the pilot was looking across and smilling enthusiastically. With a few words in English exchanged we pulled over. Nivaldo was a local and after a few minutes of explaining our dilemma had offered to lead us out of the city. Hey, we needed all the help we could get. An hour later and even with Nivaldos help after several wrong turns and dead ends, we’d found the bridge and were being treated to an inspired view of the city. On the far side of the bridge and parked up for a drink, we wanted to thank Nivaldo for rescuing us. Of course we chatted about our trip and explained our package dilemma and our reason for leaving Rio. Nivaldo was going to resue us again. We were to be on the receiving end of amazing generosity…again. Nivaldo is building a new home for his family in Rio. The builders are still on site but the rooms upstairs are finished. “If you want to use the rooms, they are yours to use”, Nivaldo explained. It was an offer we couldn’t turn down. With Nivaldo taking the lead we were soon kicking down side stands and parking up amongst the building supplies and concrete mix.

Nivaldo had left a little while ago and we’d laid out our matteresses and sleeping bags and made ourselves at home. The afternoon had passed quickly. We enjoyed a lovely evening with Nivaldo’s family at his apartment just a few kilometres from the new house.

Our morning vist to the internet had confirmed that the package had arrived in Sao Paulo. All we could was wait, it was going to take the rest of the day to clear and be released by Brazillian customs and forwarded to Rio. Copacabana and Ipanema beaches were too enticing not to be explored a little further. The long walk around Rio’s huge lagoon was an eye opener. People of every shape, colour and age, most semi-clothed jogging around getting their daily exercise fix doged the push bikes whizzing by. The endless jangle of bike bells ringing in the air. With the row boats on the lagoon rhythmically splashing in the background, we were feeling a little guilty at our own lack of fitness and physical activity.

The beaches were heaving, as usual. We tried lying on the beach and closing our eyes…impossible. The continous activity around just begged to be watched. Beach sellers shouting out their wares made heavy footsteps up and down the sandy paradise seliing everything from jewellery and cake to ice-cream and long flowing, pleated skirts. With a green coconut in hand, bought for 2 Reals (50p) it was a joy to spectate. With our skin tingling from the strong South American sun we made our way slowly back to the house, paying a quick visit to the local shops and grabbing some provisions for dinner.

14km from Nivaldo’s lay Autokraft BMW. They were just too close not to go in and say hi, besides we were still waiting to hear that the package from Steph had been released. It was to be a long day.

Renalto’s beaming face greated us as we parked up in front of Autokrafts huge gleaming glass-fronted show room and before long we’d made our introductions and were downing strong black Brazillian cofffee at the bar. Apart from just saying hi, we still needed a few bike parts before heading North. We wanted to ensure we have a spare 22mm F650GS sub-frame bolt. Lisa’s already broken two, so it made sense to take the precaution of a spare. With Lisa’s heated handle bars still not working we thought we’d scare ourselves silly by checking out the price of replacements. Boy were we in for a surprise. Motorbikes especially BMW’s in Brazil are astronomically expensive and if you can afford one you’re making a social statement…you’re one of Brazils elite. With a standard 1150GS costing $40,000.00 and Brazil’s national average income at 200 Reals ($100-£50) per month a BMW bike makes quite a statement. The subframe bolt we bought in South Africa for £2 was going to cost us £10 in Rio.

With a quick check on the FedEx tracking website our day was about to take a turn for the worst. With the tracking number punched in we were hoping to read…’Package custom cleared, in transit to Rio’, what we actually read was…’package release delay, custom clearance irregularity’. Nnnnnoooooooo! We’d heard plenty of horror stories from other travellers shipping kit to Brazil to know that this could be a real headache. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the phone leant to us by Autokraft trying to get any information from FedEx and customs as to what the ‘irregularity’ was. We knew Steph would have labelled and double checked everything. By 6pm I was getting exasperated and had still got nowhere. From the dozens I’d spoken too, the best I could glean was that customs had a problem with accepting the ‘zero’ value on the Touratech invoice for the seat and 650 chain guide. Trying to explain to FedEx and customs that these were legitimate sponsored items and had become our ‘personal possesions’ in South Africa and therefore shouldn’t be liable to the 100% import duty Brazil demands was proving pointless. We were going to have to email and fax every document we could lay our hands on tomorrow to substantiate our explanation, either way it was going to take several days at least to get this sorted. If Customs didn’t accept our info they could simply pull a value for the seat from the air and demand that.

Autokraft have kindly offered to do what they can and have offered one of their phones to help with communication. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned but the package at the moment is in Sao Paulo.

With Nivaldo’s help we’d managed to fax to FedEx and customs the Portugese translated press release that Tania had organised for us in Port Alegre along with press clipping, letters from the charities we’re trying to support and emails from Touratech and Autocom confirming their kit sponsorship.

There’s no point giving a blow by blow account of the day, we basically spent it at Autokraft on the phone trying to sort this mess out. It now turns out that our parcel was also in a consignment that was randomly quarantined as normal customs procedure. We were also told that a portion of the paperwork shipped with the parcel was incomplete. This all sounds like ‘bollocks’ to me. It just doesn’t add up and I’m getting frustrated at not knowing exactly which hoop they want me to jump through. The matter is frustrated further by the fact that even with staying at Nivaldo’s, Rio is an expensive place to be and we need to be heading North. Mind you, if it wasn’t for the help we’ve received from Autokraft and Nivaldo, this whole situation could have been a whole lot more difficult.

Yep, we’re back at Autokaraft and buzzing from the countless cups of blackliquid adrenalin we’re being supplied between phone calls. We’re no further along with the package issue, but thanks to Fredy (an Autokraft client and Rio businessman) we’re a little clearer on what may be the real delay in customs releasing our delivery.

Apparently customs officals are asking for a pay rise but for various reasons can’t strike. Their plan is a simple one, they’re doing their jobs by the book, dotting every ‘I’ and crossing every ‘T’, intentially backing up the system until the powers that be, overwhelmed by complaints, give them the rise they’re asking for. That doesn’t help us physically but makes the situation a little clearer and therefore a little more bearable.

A big thank you to Fredy who has genously asked one of his staff, a customs and import specialist in Fredy’s employ, to involve himself and help us out. Apparently this guy knows everyone in customs. Who knows, this may be exactly the help we need, it certainly can’t hurt.
Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting episode of…’Brazillian customs, the battle continues IV’

Back at our new home…Autokraft, we spent much of the day talking with FedEx in Sao Paulo, who, I have to admit, were pretty great and doing all they could to resolve the issues. For anyone else importing into Brazil bear in the mind the following. We got to the bottom of the whole ‘import duty thing’. We couldn’t understand why customs were still insistant on charging us 100% duty on what we’d proved were personal items and in fact were in transit and in a few weeks would be leaving Brazil with us as we travelled into Paraguay and South. It turns out that Brazillian customs law dictates that ‘ANY ITEMS’ brought into the country by a courier (FedEX, UPS, etc) are charged at 100%. The normal argument of commercial items and personal items is irrelevant as the ‘courier’ involvement has already dictated the basic duty levy. If you want to send something the cheapest way is to simply have someone check it onto a commercial flight and collect the package at the airport an clear it yourself as personal affects. Something to bear in mind?

At last!!!!!
By 5:00pm I’d spoken to everyone I could and had been told by FedEx that they were again presenting our case to customs at 4:00pm and that Fredy’s guy had also done what he could. All we could do was wait.

At 5:55pm the phone rang. “Mr. Thomas, it’s Marcello from FedEX, I have some news………………..Customs have cleared the package and it’s now in transit to you in Rio de Janeiro”, I could have kissed him. We’d convinced and readied ourselves for the worst. The parcel would be ready for pick up on Monday. Yeaaaaaa Hahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Talk abouth relieved. We’ll be here for the weekend but at least the worry of the delivery is off our shoulders.