Well… I got the first taste of what is driving in a city close to 15 million crazy drivers. I think they all must own a motorcycle and drive like maniacs left, right and centre… and if you change direction or wobble ( as Miguel says) in your lane without looking… you end up with one of them on your lap . Thank God my friend Andre told me to watch for them and I soon discovered why. As soon as we got in the car, there were already half of the Sao Paulo’s population cueing behind us and we took of without doing what I have been thought in almost 7 years of Rio Tinto, a Take 5 risk assessment…
We were swallowed by the Sao Paulo peak hour traffic without setting the mirrors, learn how to open the windows and operate the de-misting. It was a busy and dangerous couple of minutes while I quickly had a crash course on Renaut Sandero and avoided being crushed by a truck, run over by a motoqueiro (crazy bike driver) and catch the right lane in the busy Aryton Sena motorway. Fortunately with an exceptional guide, Rosa, I made it to Tia Lulu’s house in the middle of Sao Paulo without a scratch or a motoqueiro stuck to my windscreen.
We had almost all the Sao Paulo’s family visiting us that night and although we were tired from 24 hours travelling we loved catching up with them. I had not seen them since my trip to Paracatu in 2004 and Filomena since Angola 30 years ago.
We had a reasonable first night sleep as we were exhausted and after a beautiful Brazilian “café da manha” we headed off to a street somewhere in Sao Paulo where we could find electronic stuff. I was looking for a map of Brazil for my GPS but they did not know the brand Navman and I am now driving semi-blind as I could not find yet a good map of the roads. Thanks to Google maps I have been able to print the trip to Pontal do Sul where my parents live and hope to get there tomorrow.
After a quick trip to the shops and the bank to get Reais (Brazilian currency) I followed Rosa through Sao Paulo on the way out to Guaruja where she lives. Filu and Rosa were busy catching up on 30 years of news and never thought about this poor guy, driving a manual minute Renaut car on the right hand side of the road and trying to stay stuck to their bumper bar… otherwise I had no idea where I was. Now I understand why the Brazilians are good formula 1 race drivers. They all drive like they are on a racecourse and Rosa is no exception. Finally we made it across Sao Paulo and into the Emigrantes highway, heading south to Guaruja.
The objective os this trip to Guarujá was to drop Rosa at home and therefore we headed to Pontal do Sul straight away. We returned to Guarujá later on and had the oportunity to enjoy the hospitality of the Pousada Rosamar and from the photos one can see how cosy it is.
