I'm on the road again, at last. It took me two weeks to get around the Darien Gap, about 400 km. Three days of paperwork in Panama, two in Colombia, with the difference that the customs and police officers in Colombia are more friendly and helpful.

It is now 2 ½ months since I started from Alaska. Looking at the map of the Americas, it might look as if I was about half way, but I am still far away from this.  Since today, I am turning my back to the Pan-American and I am traveling eastward.

 

I will make a big loop, passing successively from Colombia to

Venezuela

Brazil
Guyana
Suriname
French Guiana
Brazil
Venezuela
and back again to Colombia.

 
This part of my journey will certainly be the hardest one for me, and the most challenging for my bike.

 

It is especially Guyana (English) that scares me off: First of all there is no road border crossing between Venezuela and Guyana, so I have to transit via Brazil. Next, I will ride mostly on trails, and this plain rainy season. Oddly enough, the rainy season is not the same for all these countries, something I did not know.

Then Suriname (formerly Dutch Guyana): This is the only country in my journey where I do need a visa, all other countries love Luxembourgers. I've been suggested several times to enter without, that the controls are close to zero; apparently many travelers do it like this. We'll see. There is an Embassy of Suriname in Guyana, I will at least try to get a visa, otherwise I will have to improvise. Suriname is the only road passage to French Guyana and to the south, to the Amazon rainforest.

So, after Suriname, I will pass French Guyana, apparently the only one of the three Guyanas where the roads are in good condition; then I’ll drive south to Brazil and the Amazon. Here I will try to push as far into the jungle as possible, but for sure, I will have to board a boat at some point.  Then I’ll sail the Amazon River upstream to Manaus for some five days, and finally drive north to Venezuela and Colombia again.

 

This is the plan….

I have no idea how long it will take me to complete this loop, I can only guess: Maybe one month. It all depends on the condition of the trails and lots of other things that I do not know yet, but I cannot wait to find out.

So far, I drove 21000 km, passed 10 countries, and received 2 fines for speeding.
I guess, there will be some more 30000 km driving waiting for me, and another 13 countries to discover.

 
My bike works perfectly. Apart from a defect light bulb I had no problems, not even a puncture. I replaced my chain and brake pads, had 2 complete services with oil change. Next week I will put the third set of tires, changing from street to off-road tires.