Atlanta 96 - On the Track of the Americas
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De Florianópolis (SC) a Atlanta
(EUA) a Florianópolis (SC) Vehicle: Volkswagen Beetle 1.500 Total running distance: 42.440 km Duration: 5 months and 4 days Total petrol consume: 4.270 litres Total of tires changed: 4 Total of spare parts used: 4
accelerator cables |
| The Gym teacher and now adventurer Roberto Boell Vaz, 34
years old, undertook an accomplishment of continental proportions when he completed the
"On the Track of the Americas - Atlanta 96" event. He left his home in
Florianópolis (SC) in a Beetle 1500, year 1975 (graciously called Boomerang) on the 6th
of June 1996 on the way to Atlanta (USA), in order to be present at the Olympic Games
centenary celebrations. He arrived there on the 22nd of July, 3 days after the official
opening of the Games, even though late he witnessed the bomb explosion on the Centenium
Park that clouded the festive expectancies for the games ; only on the day of the 5th of
November , 5 months later, Roberto was able to rest on his own bed again, after travelling
more than 42000 km over the three Americas. Many were the experiences lived on this
journey that started in São José, neighbouring town to Florianópolis and the official
sponsors of the event From there, accompanied by his then travelling partner Flavio José
Cardoso Júnior (a reporter to another sponsor - the newspaper Diário Catarinense), he
took the road to Uruguay and then Argentina and Chile. Despite the cold of winter with
temperatures close to zero, the first major challenge only came with the crossing of the
Andes mountain range, at Passo de los Libertadores between Mendosa(Argentina) and Santiago
(Chile), where strong winds and snow, plus a temperature of -7 degrees Celsius, forced the
brave adventures to cross the mountain range in only one day.
A great surprise , though, was the coincidence of meeting
the couple Lilian and Fernando (she, a Brazilian, he, a Colombian), that live in Atlanta
and kindly received Roberto and Flavio in their home for three weeks. Roberto always
remembers them with fondness, as well as his encounter with the football idol, Pelé.
Everything went really well up until then but it was still necessary to go back to Brazil,
which would be a even bigger challenge since the money they had was not sufficient for the
whole journey back, even so the challenge was up. They decided that Flavio would fly back
to Florianópolis, while brave Roberto would drive back on his own. He remembers, while
crossing the Venezuelan border -I had only 1dolar in my pocket, but felt at home, even
tough I was still 7800 km from Florianópolis. The road was in terrible conditions, and he
had to spend the night in a Indian reservation halfway through the road that links Boa
Vista to Manaus, the sounds of the forest made the evening, tough.To get to Porto Velho in
Rondonia, he had to go down the Amazon River and go up the Madeira river, which took him 6
days on a boat, with loads of mosquitoes and really hot weather, but also witnessing all
the beauty the forest had to offer; alligators, tortoises, fresh water dolphins and many
more animals.
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| The trip | Photos | Books | Lectures | Partnerships | Contacts |
Between Chile and Peru, they drove trough the Atacama desert - the
driest in the world ,where in some places have not rained for over 900 years-. The place
has been home to ancient civilisations; recently there were found mummies over 6000 years
old. In seven days it was possible to cross the Chilean portion of the desert , going
trough fantastic places like the Vale da Lua (Valley of the Moon), with its rock
formations resembling the moon landscape, the salt deposits and gigantic volcanic geysers,
all this situated around the village of San Pedro de Atacama, a place visited by people
from around the world. They then crossed Peru, Equator and Colombia trough the
Pan-American Motorway, a road where the mighty "Boomerang" had the opportunity
to show its worth by enduring well the many holes on the way. Then from Cartagena das
Ïndias, North of Colombia, it was necessary to cross on to Panama by ship since on this
part of the Americas there are no roads, despite the continental link. In Central America,
Nicaragua received them very warmly, its people are excellent hosts and they love
Brazilians, but it was still necessary to be very careful. At night, besides the normal
risks like muggings and accidents on the roads, one has to be alert with the animals
sleeping on the road, like a horse that almost got run over. The journey continued trough
Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, arriving at Mexico and entering the United States
through the South on the customs between Matamoros ( Mexico)and Brownsville (USA). Without
any long stops for resting they soon arrived at Atlanta where they met another fantastic
adventurer, the cyclist Adilson Joe, that had cycled all the way from Itajaí - another
city in Santa Catarina - their friendship was instantaneous.Nearly 40 days would pass
before they returned to Brazil.
In the Chapada dos Guimarães
the heat was even stronger, reaching nearly 40 degrees, so taking waterfall showers was an
absolute necessity. Briefly going through Brasilia and Belo Horizonte, at each stop over
he would make new friends that would help him with petrol costs and even food supplies,
that along with the canned food donated by a American institution (Harvard Child Nutrition
Company), stopped him from going hungry on journey back. Roberto was getting back !! He
stopped for a few days in Sào Paulo to visit friends and his sister that lives and works
there. Around Florianópolis , everyone knew of his arrival, some would beeb on the BR 101
motorway and even an ambulance scouted him, with siren and lights turned on - the
ambulance was empty of course! At the end of the last 90 km I was received with loads of
hugs and a lot of affection in Florianópolis, where my parents , relatives and friends
live. The dream was only beginning.