This is another day, no more fun.

While yesterday I flew 125 km over the savannah of Guyana, today the fun part lasted only 10 km.  To the Iwokrama park entrance, to be precise. The road is closed; a police officer in shorts wants to see my travel documents. We are in the rain forest, but what does this guy really want?

I enter the park and now I am zigzagging between impressive potholes. There were thunderstorms here last night, it is all water and mud now. The track is also much narrower here. I barely reach 50km/h on better sections. The potholes are logically filled with water, and I cannot estimate their depth anymore. Despite driving more than cautious, I cannot avoid all the traps, often I cannot pass at all, neither on one side nor the other.

Last night, Leon, tour guide at the Rock View Lodge, told me that in Guyana, kids are taught: "If there is something in front of you, and you cannot see to the ground, do not go!“ These words come to my mind; now then I am stopped at a huge puddle of brown water, which bars any passage. What can be down there, how deep can it be? I cannot get off my bike to check it out, the soil is too soft, and it would fall immediately. So, I have no choice: I switch into first gear and slowly drive into the brown water. It's deep, water flows in my boots from above, so it must be some 50 cm deep. Wet feet are the least of my worries at the moment, now in is important not to stall and fall here. I accelerate, the engine roars, water splashes over my head in my eyes, I cannot see anything, but I pass.

 I love this bike.

Wow!

I wanted action, well; now I get what I wanted.

There will some 5-6 more really deep pools like this one. Add to that dozens of heavy shocks when I hit fully into a hole, plus some thirty slippery bridges.

I ride without interruption, no time for food or whatsoever;  this will be a long day.

Then the road ends. Before me flows a large river, the Essiquibo. No bridge, but a ferry on the other bank that seems not to intend to move and pick me up. I wave, shout, whistle and honk, no way. A canoe comes alongside. The young guy who pilots it, explains me that the ferry will not move for two wheeled vehicles, I have to wait for a car and then join in. Then he offers me to carry my bike in his little canoe, offer that I politely decline. An hour later a 4x4 arrives, we board the ferry, cross the Essiquibo, and I can resume my journey. Meanwhile I am far behind schedule; I drove at an average of barely 30 km / h so far. I have driven just  100km and there are another  230km ahead of me.

Another 100 km later the trail changes color, the red turns to yellow, and sand replaces the mud. My speed drops another notch. Now it gets acrobatic, it gets increasingly difficult to control my heavy bike. A truck passes me, trailing a big dust cloud and I am blinded for a moment. Just at that moment I run into deep sand, my frond wheel skids, I cannot control my bike anymore, and fall down. My leg is trapped under the bike, I cannot release it, and it hurts. Then it smells of gas, my tank is leaking. Luckily I manage to cut the fuel supply, and only after that I manage to free my leg. It hurts like hell but nothing is broken.

But on this unstable ground, it is impossible for me to put my bike back on its wheels, it is far too heavy. I guess that, fully loaded, it weighs around 350 kilos, and because of my entire luggage and my second fuel tank, the center of gravity is very high, much too high. As I start unloading everything to lighten it, a truck stops by, and two strong guys help me to put my bike upright.

I leave immediately. Too bad, I fell just some five kilometers before the road gets better. I pull the throttle, I speed up.

But today is definitely not my day. It gets dark, a thunderstorm breaks out, and in just moments everything is flooded. In no time, the track becomes a real ice rink. Now I ride in first gear only, but I still almost fall down several times. Fortunately at Linden, the next town, the trail will become a paved road. Linden is just 25 km away, but I need 1 ½ to get there.
Night has fallen when I finally park my bike. I drove non-stop 11 hours today under really difficult conditions. No way to go to Georgetown tonight, as was my first intention.

But early tomorrow morning  I absolutely have to be there and show up at the Embassy of Suriname to apply for a Visa, or I will lose two days, the embassy opens only every second day.

The night will be short .