Parque Nacional Serra dos Orgãos,
Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
18 novembre 2000
About 24 hours ago history was made here in this beautiful jungle location so close but yet so far away from the city of Rio de Janeiro. Here we were sitting in our vans at the end of the road in this national park expecting any minute to be evicted from our illegal camping spot here in the parking lot when we hear the dreaded sound of a motor coming up the hill in the drizzling rain. I am all ready to get out of the van and create some plausible story (white lie) to try to get the guards to let us stay here by the sound of the rushing river away from the city, away from the noise, away from the traffic and away from the roosters when Will says, "It's a Vanagon --- it's Tyler and Jeanne and Shay!!!"
Incredibly enough, he's right! There just topping the hill and rolling into the parking lot were two Vanagons and out the window of one of them was Tyler's arm holding a video camera which he had amazingly just turned on unbeknownst to him to record this moment for history. The remnants of the idea of Caravana Panamericana had just been reunited here half way through Brasil.
Les, Vicki and Jozey Kovach, Kai Fremgen and Valeria Babocsi and Will Foertsch and myself, Larry Calhoun, had left the USA on August 1 flying to Venezuela where we began our South American journey on August 28th when we finally left the hell hole of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela and started on our adventure. Ron Lussier, Jeanne Maly, Shay Boswell and Tyler Trotman had left a month later also shipping into Puerto Cabello and they had started their adventure October 9th. In northern Brasil, Ron decided that he was going to return to the US but Jeanne, Shay and Tyler continued on.
In our group, Les Kovach had continued to monitor the Caravana mailing list at internet cafes along the way. In Fortaleza Jeanne had posted a message that she wished she knew where we were and when we received it, we e-mailed her regularly of our location and plans for the future and wishing also that we, the remnants of Caravana could link up somewhere here in Brasil. At first we got no response and then we got a little better communicating our positions and in an e-mail of about a week ago when we were in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais and they were in Porto Seguro, Bahia, we told them of our plan to take a few days of R&R at the national park near Teresopólis in the state of Rio de Janeiro. With that information, they left Porto Seguro and we left Ouro Preto unbeknownst to each other that we were heading for the same place.
Yesterday we arrived here at about 10AM not knowing if we could stay here (no Vanagon camping allowed) or not. Kai and I decided to take a hike to the top of the mountain, Valeria washed clothes, Will changed the oil in our van and Les worked on his fresh water pump here in the parking lot at the end of the road while Jozey did her school work and Vicki birdwatched. Basically another day like so many before when we had decided to take a day off. Little did we know of what was to happen!
So, when they blow our minds and drive right up here in our midst, we are overwhelmed and overjoyed at the same time. We all pile out of our vans in the drizzle and hug and smile and shake hands and introduce ourselves in what must have looked like refugee week at a displaced persons camp and then we smile some more as we walk around in disbelief that this really has happened - that here at the end of the road in this parking lot in a little known national park off the beaten track, Caravana or rather the remnants of Caravana Panamericana were reunited.
Kai and Valeria and me and Will and Jeanne Maly had first met at Custer State Park in August of 1999 when we had our Caravana reunion where 20 people came from the USA and Canada to discuss our proposed trip. Later Will and I met Les, Vicki and Jozey in Florida and in April of 2000 at Black Rock Mountain State Park in North Carolina we and they and Kai and Valeria met to do some pre-trip planning and test to see if we could in actuality travel together as a group. So that left only Shay and Tyler whom we had yet to meet. Introductions out of the way, Tyler pulled out his awning to protect us from the rain and we gathered under it to smile some more and talk. It was then that I realized that I was bare foot having forgotten to put on either my shoes or my glasses when I jumped out of our van when they drove up.
We shared some beer and drank a bottle of wine and decided to send this message to the people still monitoring Caravana to let them know that yes, a trip from the USA to Tierra del Fuego and back is indeed possible and that we the remnants of Caravana are in fact on the way south nearing the Tropic of Capricorn. To those people out there still interested in hearing from us or learning from our experiences, we direct this communication. We have plenty of information that could be of help to prospective travelers that we will be posting to this list periodically as we find the time to type it, proof it and then find an internet cafe to send it. Wish us luck and let us hear from you from time to time---especially those of you who are monitoring this from South America since it might even be possible for us to meet up. Will’s and my address on the road is willandlarry@yahoo.com Our first communication will be posted in a week or so.
Larry Calhoun & Will Foertsch, Kai Fremgen & Valeria Babocsi, Les, Vicki & Jozey Kovach, Jeanne Maly & Shay Boswell and Tyler Trotman traveling in five VW vans near Rio de Janeiro
