Saturday, October 20th day 52 BRAZIL
Miles day: 49.7 5(80km) Total miles : 2187.7 miles ( km)
Daily average speed: 5.9 miles/h(9.55 km/h)
Daily running time: 8h19
Snake Girard
It’s 3.1 miles away from the new bridge of the Rio Paraguay that Serge starts a new day under the sign of the PATANAL. For safety reasons and at experimental title, Fabrice, our chiropodist goes first on his motorbike, lighting the way for Serge. Exit the 4X4 , hurrah the motorbike. If Bolivia has "force feeded" us with tolls and road checks of all sorts here we’re going to deal with the subtleties of the Brazilian administration and its laws, like being allowed to run on a autopista (motorway) after CAMPOGRANDE , but It’s well-known that travelling means adapting oneself. Big emotion yesterday afternoon at the camp, while some of us were standing on the side of the rio, contemplating a heron , a nice and strange undulation disturbed the apparently quietness of the river.We gazed at one another, wondering what it could be:
Answer A : a fish
Answer B : crocodile
Answer C : a snake
The good answer was a snake, more exactly a SUCURRI a beautiful baby about 6.56ft (2m)long for 5.9(15 cm) inches in diameter. While our happy friend was trying to get into a boat at anchor, a fisherman walked round the boat, plunged his arm into the water, pulled our reptile out vigorously ….dragged it to the bank, then made it go round and round. No need to say how amazed we were. However, videocameras and cameras got into action in no time.We knew that the patanal would surprise us but the first one was beyond what we could have imagined. He only one who didn’t see any of it was Serge who was relaxing quietly.
But today Serge is moving like a snake.Like a metronome, his early morning shadow grows bigger on the Brazilian tarmac.Everything is going well but we know that Serge can suffer in silence. At the 43.5mile, heavy rain starts falling and a a strong wind rises. Serge will finish the stage satisfied with the distance covered but without saying a word, he’s been doing that for a few days now. That’s rather a good sign.
Hasta la manana a todos. And thanks again for reading us.
