Good-bye Khartoum, Good-bye Africa !

The plane has just taken off for Paris. It is 5h30. The sun of the morning points its very first rays at the horizon. From our seat, we distinguish the last minarets from Khartoum. It is the heart in charge of emotions and memories, that we leave the African continent definitively. The population met there is for much, even if the crossed landscapes were often unforgettable beauty.
As well in the Eastern European countries, as in Turkey, in the Middle East or in Africa our course was marked out people out of the commun run, offering to you, very often, more than what they could not be offered to them-even... There is Adrienne, also, which we leave in Sudan. We are sad, but proud at the same time. On the spot, it will continue its brilliant career with the service of water near association CARE. Snif! We will re-examine it never again, if it is not through many images which will remain a long time still engraved in our memories. A black spot, was however the Egyptian population in liaison with the tourists... But, let us not think of it any more, the remainder was so much époustouflant.
The route borrowed by the plane revives to us with wings the way which we had so hard traced with Adrienne to reach Sudan. Seen of in top that appears to us short and already distance, but on the ground, it will have taken us 5 long months.
Two words come me to mind to summarize these 5 months of adventure: Reception and Division. It is an undeniable fact, all these populations met have a direction of the hospitality which we do not find any more on our premises.
The arrival in Paris is a true triumph. Flashes and cameras attack us on all sides. By which to start? Already the celebrity? ! We have the tournis to only think of it. Large a thank you with our parents to have endorsed this day there it multiple cap of parents, journalistes/photographes/fan etc.

The products of the soil recall us that in France it makes good food and that one eats there well. During this week of stopover, we hope well to catch up with us and store some good greases for the continuation of the project. Nothing like it, indeed, that a good cheese or that a good waterzouille of chicken (flat Belgian with chicken and the cream) for you requinquer after so much of days spent on the roads.
In Paris we are not unemployed. Finally the good restaurants with the friends will await our true return to the re-entry 2004. Today the hour is more with the visits of the schools in order to encourage them in their work on water and with the meeting with our partners.
With the Airports of Paris, our larger partner, we set up a daring project. To make come with us to Asia, by the means of a contest, ten bordering children of the airports of Paris. Objective, to make them discover in situ lived of the water of other children, other cultures. The assembly of this project takes to us most clearly of our time.
Jacques Séguéla, our godfather, will succeed, in last minute, to release us from time so that we lunch with him. He has a surprise for us, a car. He had promised it to us last June, it is thing made today, we are with the angels... The car will await us our arrival with São Paolo for new adventures, but this time, out of INCA ground. Sometimes even if troubles of an administrative nature or the accident of Sudan fall us on the nose, we can say that all smiles us. With which must us? All those which support us day and night our family, our godfather, our friends and our partners... Without all this small justified world and decided well to help us our adventure would have a less scale...

The telephone sounds for the énièmes time, it is the travel agency for student OTU, one of our partners, who hopelessly seeks to find us tickets for Brazil. This time it is for good, we leave tomorrow for the new world. As usual we are caught the day before for the following day there, then, it is much harder for everyone. But good it is what makes our charm!

Departure, therefore, on the hats of wheel for Brazil Wednesday December 10 at the evening. Arrival envisaged the next morning with 6h30.

A thunder of applause draws me from my dreams. I turn to Loïc the surface of saying
"They are insane these Brazilian! ? "
"T'en do not make", says me it, "it is their manner with them of congratulating the captain on the plane for the landing successful on the apparatus".
Here is a mentality which I like well; to believe that all is not played in advance. I will like Brazil it is certain...
We recover our luggage without any problem. After having given two three phone calls, the appetite starts to torture us the belly. Not knowing where to go, and in despair of cause, we make a pause lunch with Mc C Hé yes! That can arrive at everyone, even with best! Fortunately for us, hostesses Mc C in Brazil are charming. One of them, more intrepid than the others, to us will slip a paper napkin under our elbow with this formidable sentence registered above: "Seja Bem Vindo C Brasil" signed pretty brown with the clear eyes (Be welcome in Brazil). How, as Christophe Colomb before us (they is false but that sounds better than with Portuguese Pedro Cabral who was actually the first to pose the foot in Brazil in 1500), not to fall under the charm from this promising country? The tooth digs filled once, we leave to research an inn of youth to the height our wallet. With the airport, the tourist bureau had indicated to us an inn of youth street of the French. It is very found, we will crécherons there in waiting to be received at the inhabitant.

Among the many phone calls given since the airport, one of them is of capital importance for us, that given to Citroen Brésil.
Is this true?
Will we have really a car for the 2 months and half which we will pass to furrow the Latin America?
Ca appears hardly believable, a new car at the end of the world to replace our Adrienne antique... The answer of Marie-Noëlle, assistant of Mr Habib, does not enable us any more to doubt only one moment of the promise made by Jaques Séguéla. We must come to seek it the following day, time for them to prepare it to us. The only small difficulty, we intended to go up to Ecuador in the car and to leave it on the spot, but that will not be possible, it should imperatively be brought back either to the box departure for São Paulo, or in any Citroen dealer in Brazil. All our route is to be recalled, so as to reconcile our desire to see Peru and Bolivia and the Citroen requirement to return the car to Brazil. It is the occasion with tumultuous discussions where one wants to go down out of ground from fire where the other wants to go up towards Peru. In order to satisfy our desideratas as well as possible, we twist the chart of South America in all the directions. Not, not and not, it is definitively not possible within sight of our timing to make all these countries. It will be necessary to slice in the sharp one.
All the possible roads are considered, even that to descend the Amazon by putting the car on a wherry from fortune from Iquitos to Manaus and to on the spot leave it to the Citroen dealer. This one is not possible either. In this moment on all the continent of South America; it is the rain season, the not tarred roads of the Amazonian forest are closed to us, because entirely smashed by the trucks and under the influences total of mud. It is true that our C3 is elevated in particular for the dirt tracks of Brazil, but not at the point to cut through a path in the sludge on 1500 km. Finally we will choose a reasonable formula... To cross Bolivia right through since Corumbá, to then join Peru while passing by Cusco and Lima, to go down again towards Chile to finally again sink on Argentina then Brazil. The whole for the trifle of 20 000 km in 2 months... is 300 km days. One likes to have evil!

The following day at Citroen, Marie-Noëlle introduces to us to Xavier French with the quite Castilian accent, but with the Brazilian way of life which proposes to us before even to have seen a roof that we accept without discussing. It puts to us quickly with the perfume Paulista habits while making us discover traditional Caïpirinha (local alcohol), the schools of Samba (Carnival) and the women, who it should be acknowledged are very beautiful in Brazil. Thanks to him and in Marcel Nakamura we will meet also the children of an orphanage and will visit the stations of purifications and water treatments of São Paulo.
The Citroen team us reception with large eyes. But which is thus these two rowdy characters of the old continent come to seek the adventure in Brazil here? We their present our project which they discover with enthusiasm. All will yield into thousand to render a service to us, the ones will make us the stickers to put on the car, the others we will help in our administrative steps, and God knows, if it is necessary some here. Jeremy and Sabrina, them also of French of the Citroen family, propose to us to use on their premises them connection Internet. All the ingredients are joined together so that all occurs for best in Brave New World...
December 24 we are finally ready for the departure. In the living room of the houses the festival of the nativity beats its full. No extravagant fires of artifices as in Europe, but of the thousands of apprentices bomb disposal experts who are given some to heart joy of illuminating the sky of São paulo. At this time precise, we miss a thing terribly, the presence of our family at our sides. But, the project obliges, it is to two that we will celebrate Christmas. And the low temperatures also enormously we miss the snowball fights... Fortunately, one of our aunts thought of us, by sending to us a small ticket in a chart accompanied by a photograph with these some words: "Merry Christmas! Here a superb turkey to comfort you ", on the photograph one can admire Mr. Bush offering to her JI S an enormous Christmas turkey on a gigantic money plate, a bit of humour which made us well laugh. December 25 we are thus carried out by making a memorable gueuleton in one of the restaurants chicos of the city.
With the menu

Entry
Mozzarella of buffalo
Salads in all kinds of which a salad of fresh cream furnished with cutters, mangos, grapes and grapefruits.
Stuffed tomatoes with shrimps
Artichoke hearts
succulent mushrooms, salmons believed or cooked, rollmops, anchovy
the whole presented on a splendid dresser at will

Dish of resistance
With the pin: Gargantua of it would have been jealous
Net, sirloin, spine, aloyaux, mitre, Tournedos, etc. For the amateurs, hearts still any poultry heat…

Dessert
Foams and chocolate cakes to roll floor
Charlotte with the cutters to dance Carioca
English frost of all the colors (that on the other hand it was not signal)

Important lapse of memory of my share between the principal dish and the dessert, the famous Norman hole. It was excellent Short Calvados the whole together with a small Brazilian coffee, a sheer delight. A small word on the personnel which exemplary in their was delivered "special Christmas" to the limit of aggravating so much they were with our small care.

The meal of digested Christmas and the drudgery of the finished embassies, we leave São Paulo direction Bolivia. First stage of this course of the combatant, this deserted rich person of water and vegetation which is Pantanal. Today is saturdays December 27. With the meter of Adrienne II or Bubulle for the irreducible ones of water, the kilometers are added at a confusing speed. The distances here do not have the equal ones with their European cousins. Três Lagoas on Rio Paraná then, Campo Grande where we spend the night are the last large cities before the harbour city of Corumbá and Rio Paraguay. Henceforth it is Br 262 which we must follow, single road really suitable for motor vehicles until destination of the Bolivian border.

Two splendid macaws of color blue king making the race with Adrienne open to us the doors of the largest noncoastal marsh of the world. As children we open large the mouth to let leave a "Ouahh, that it is beautiful". The brutality of the rain season makes it possible nature to produce this fairy-like alchemy. There are few colors, but they are entrechoquent violently for the greatest pleasure of our eyes. Impossible not to remain mouth bée in front of this imposing spectacle which does not finish any starting again.
To 160 km of Corumbá we decide to take a minor mud road. The idea here is to revive the adventure as with good old days at the wheel of Adrienne I One does not remake oneself... Like very good Paradise, Pantanal with unfortunately his hell, moisture and the mosquitos. We make the knowledge of the latter at the time of an exit topo to the meeting of the caimans which will finish in a blood bath. At the time to cross Rio on a small bridge out of wooden, I foresee on our left of unpleasant animals being made roast with the sun. Ca resembles alligators maliciously.
" well ! well ! see you the big animals?"
"Yeah"
In two times three movements, we are out of the car without thinking only one moment being devoured by another thing that by malicious the crocos which faces us. At this precise moment we come to sign our death sentence. An army of mosquitos in heat falls down on us to suck our blood until more thirst. It is necessary to beat a retreat quickly and to take refuge in the car. It is not yet sufficient. At the interior, an arranged battle is organized against a higher attacker in a number. The unpleasant ones had infiltrated without our knowledge. Fortunately, we take the top, but not without after-effects. Our legs and our arms carry the marks of a battle without pities. The cockpit of the car, as for him, is mackled by a multitude of tasks of blood... This time, we swore not to leave never again without repulsive.

After a forwarding in the boat worthy of "the broken ear" and to have thwarted the traps of the road, we arrive at healthy Corumbá and except on December 29 at the evening. The city is superb, which lets guess a past in charge of history. Corumbá was, indeed, at the XVIII century the first not-coastal port of the world. The stripped plaster same frontages of the houses leave, despite everything, to show through of rich person hot color. But the hour is not with contemplation, it is necessary to find a housing decent without too much pointing out itself with our superb car which smells the nine more. A rapid tower of horizon leads us to throw our reserved on an unspecified hotel near to Rio Paraguay. Once the last night it was necessary well to go to the obviousness which our hotel was not other than a vulgar hotel used by prostitutes. These things there, it is not known it unfortunately that after use... the next morning we make all the same the meeting of Brazilian and of an American. The goal of their peregrinations is to make reports vidéos on interesting people. With them we visit a favela of Corumba. The family met lives a housing more than simple, it is a hut of 15 m² fact of a part. Small advantage compared to their fellow-members of São Paolo, they have a garden in which they can make a kitchen garden.

We decide after grinds reflexions to remain one night more in Corumbá in our hotel seedy character. Our friends Brazilian and American dégotté a family not like the others which accomodates us around a beer and of Assado (meat roasted with the barbecue) on their boat the evening of the midnight supper. He is old of Navy. His wife is white of Kenya. They have two children and furrow since always the rivers of Latin America. Their boat has a single past since it was in its time, the boat of Eva Peron...
Fireworks blow up in all directions. From 6 months exactly, we are on the roads of the world... Happy new year!

Newspaper of November 27 at January 1, 2004 by Geoffroy

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