Travel madness: Cayenne - St George - Oiapoque - Macapa

The trip from Cayenne to St. George on the border with Brazil was quick, or at least seemed to be as I spent most of it asleep, banging my head against the window of the Hiace like a death metal fan. I arrived with a headache and jumped in another canoe to get the hell of dodge. Across the river I landed in Oiapoque and was extremely happy to be back in Brazil, even if being able to communicate more or less fluently was one of the highlights of the Guianas.

Oiapoque is a typical border town - dusty, dishevelled and a bit seedy, but I managed to get a bus ticket for 6pm that night, meaning that it would be yet another night without a bed. After a fantastic lunch at a by-the-kilo restaurant (oh how I love these places) I settled in for an afternoon nap before taking the night bus to Macapa.

The bus arrived right on time (quite a change from the Guianas) and we set off down the unpaved road to Macapa, which meant that for most of the trip we were all hopping up and down like kids in a bouncy castle. I managed to get a couple of minutes sleep here & there and we arrived into Macapa just before 4am. A motorcycle taxi took me to a hotel, which I was never so happy to see. Finally a shower and a bed, but my delight was soon to be dispelled by the night porter telling me it was full. He was kind enough to recommend another place so I hiked through the deserted streets of Macapa before finally being successful and checking in to the Hollyday Inn (sic). I showered, shaved and delighted at the creamy airconditioned goodness of it all. But my 10 second revellery was soon interrupted by the arms of morpheus.

The next day I rambled around Macapa, which has 2 exiting things. A fort and a football stadium where the equator forms the halfway line. So the games there are like the northern hemisphere against the southern. Macapa has also no roads anywhere, well except back to Oiapoque which was not high on my list of priorities. In fact the only route out was a 24 hr boat ride to Belem. At this stage long rides are non negotiable, so I got myself a flight to Fortaleza, with the intention of learning to Kitesurf and getting some serious beach time in Jericoacoara...