Aventuras | 212-804-6216 | info@chimaterere.com
It was about 9pm on July 21st, 2011 when I crossed from New York into New Jersey through the Lincoln Tunnel. A trip I had started to plan in my 20's, about 21 years ago from my Ohio State campus dorm in Columbus, was finally kicking off.
I rode fast southbound on I95 turning right on I78 towards Harrisburg, PA. My trip was going to be a long journey, all the way down to Porto Alegre, Brazil. Because of my habit of drinking chimarrão mate (typical Southern Brazilian hot infusion made with the leaves and stems of erva-mate, Ilex sp.) and exercising five times a week, I was prepared both physically and mentally. I also had the best tools and equipment I could buy. My bike was a naked 650cc Kawasaki I had nicknamed “poderosa”.
I was bringing with me about 110 pounds of equipment and personal items all tied up in the passenger seat area. Most of my stuff consisted of tools and spare parts for the bike. Other than that, the rest was the bare essential, t-shirts, tooth brush, a pair of waterproof boots, rainproof jacket and pants, a pair of jeans, one pair of shorts, a helmet, a pair of gloves, a camping tent, a two gallon fuel container, and most importantly, filming equipment, among them two HD cameras (one attached to the helmet) HD sound stereo recorder, a boom mike, a lavaliere mike, portable camera lighting, laptop computer, iphone, solar charger, radar/laser detector, gps, AAA maps, flash light, and a water treatment kit with a sterile UV light.
The itinerary was to follow a path that would take me through the cradle of American music, Tennessee, the Blues highway in the delta of the Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, then into Latin America.. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
My trip had a purpose, besides getting to know the countries I was going to pass through I wanted to document their local music, mainly the music that gave the country I was riding through its cultural identity. I wanted to learn on site about the origins of American music and where Blues and Gospel came from and how they later originated so many rhythms such as Rock and Roll, Jazz, R&B, Hip Hop, and the list could go on and on. I wanted to learn the reasons why Merengue, Punta and Samba sounded so similar to my ears, mainly Punta and Samba. I wanted to find out why the Mexican Son Jarocho and Las Decimas are slowly disappearing from the face of the earth. I wanted to hear Quechua music that still thrives in the Andes, dance to the exquisit sounds of the Bolivian Caporales and Peruvian Festejos, as well as take regular breaks to enjoy live salsa music played everywhere in Latin America.. and last but not least, I wanted to find out how the rhythms Cipó Preto and Cururu are used to produce the popular sounds played in South Central Brazil.
Another purpose of my trip was to visit three sites where Native-American groups thrived, before Christopher Columbus and his men came to these lands. I wanted to see the place where the Aztecs lived in present Mexico City, the Mayas in Copan and the Incas in Machupicchu.
I also wanted to revisit some of the social problems that afflict areas such as the South of the U.S. and Latin America as a whole, notably poverty, child abuse and abandonment, environmental degradation, and corruption. Even though I saw some improvement there's still so much to be done.
I arrived in my final destination, Porto Alegre on November 20, 2011. All in all I had ridden 13,000 miles, zigzagging through Mexico and Central America in order to see both Atlantic and Pacific coasts, staying put three weeks here, two weeks there... visiting friends in Mississippi, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru, spending some time in hospitals recouping from food poisoning, and/or waiting for my skin to heal after a couple of falls from the bike. I rode through the highest highways in the Andes Mountains, and through the hot, humid and beautiful Brazilian Pantanal, then towards Southern Brazil’s Serra do Mar Mountains.
Looking back today, after visiting so many places, what stayed with me were faces and their missions. I am always remembering the nice people I met, wonderful people living to make other people’s lives more bearable. I dedicate this trip to all unpretentious individuals with a solid understanding of what needs to be done throughout the Americas, who despite their financial constraints, hosted me when I got to their places, sometimes even taking care of my needs when I fell sick or hurt. I love them all.
................
please watch this short video that illustrates my motorcycle trip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-7eSIRzmc&feature=g-upl
I rode fast southbound on I95 turning right on I78 towards Harrisburg, PA. My trip was going to be a long journey, all the way down to Porto Alegre, Brazil. Because of my habit of drinking chimarrão mate (typical Southern Brazilian hot infusion made with the leaves and stems of erva-mate, Ilex sp.) and exercising five times a week, I was prepared both physically and mentally. I also had the best tools and equipment I could buy. My bike was a naked 650cc Kawasaki I had nicknamed “poderosa”.
I was bringing with me about 110 pounds of equipment and personal items all tied up in the passenger seat area. Most of my stuff consisted of tools and spare parts for the bike. Other than that, the rest was the bare essential, t-shirts, tooth brush, a pair of waterproof boots, rainproof jacket and pants, a pair of jeans, one pair of shorts, a helmet, a pair of gloves, a camping tent, a two gallon fuel container, and most importantly, filming equipment, among them two HD cameras (one attached to the helmet) HD sound stereo recorder, a boom mike, a lavaliere mike, portable camera lighting, laptop computer, iphone, solar charger, radar/laser detector, gps, AAA maps, flash light, and a water treatment kit with a sterile UV light.
The itinerary was to follow a path that would take me through the cradle of American music, Tennessee, the Blues highway in the delta of the Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, then into Latin America.. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
My trip had a purpose, besides getting to know the countries I was going to pass through I wanted to document their local music, mainly the music that gave the country I was riding through its cultural identity. I wanted to learn on site about the origins of American music and where Blues and Gospel came from and how they later originated so many rhythms such as Rock and Roll, Jazz, R&B, Hip Hop, and the list could go on and on. I wanted to learn the reasons why Merengue, Punta and Samba sounded so similar to my ears, mainly Punta and Samba. I wanted to find out why the Mexican Son Jarocho and Las Decimas are slowly disappearing from the face of the earth. I wanted to hear Quechua music that still thrives in the Andes, dance to the exquisit sounds of the Bolivian Caporales and Peruvian Festejos, as well as take regular breaks to enjoy live salsa music played everywhere in Latin America.. and last but not least, I wanted to find out how the rhythms Cipó Preto and Cururu are used to produce the popular sounds played in South Central Brazil.
Another purpose of my trip was to visit three sites where Native-American groups thrived, before Christopher Columbus and his men came to these lands. I wanted to see the place where the Aztecs lived in present Mexico City, the Mayas in Copan and the Incas in Machupicchu.
I also wanted to revisit some of the social problems that afflict areas such as the South of the U.S. and Latin America as a whole, notably poverty, child abuse and abandonment, environmental degradation, and corruption. Even though I saw some improvement there's still so much to be done.
I arrived in my final destination, Porto Alegre on November 20, 2011. All in all I had ridden 13,000 miles, zigzagging through Mexico and Central America in order to see both Atlantic and Pacific coasts, staying put three weeks here, two weeks there... visiting friends in Mississippi, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru, spending some time in hospitals recouping from food poisoning, and/or waiting for my skin to heal after a couple of falls from the bike. I rode through the highest highways in the Andes Mountains, and through the hot, humid and beautiful Brazilian Pantanal, then towards Southern Brazil’s Serra do Mar Mountains.
Looking back today, after visiting so many places, what stayed with me were faces and their missions. I am always remembering the nice people I met, wonderful people living to make other people’s lives more bearable. I dedicate this trip to all unpretentious individuals with a solid understanding of what needs to be done throughout the Americas, who despite their financial constraints, hosted me when I got to their places, sometimes even taking care of my needs when I fell sick or hurt. I love them all.
................
please watch this short video that illustrates my motorcycle trip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg-7eSIRzmc&feature=g-upl
Blog Comments:
Sun, 18th November, 2012
Now ya'll feel free to post comments ya hear; Seus comentários são bem vindos; S'il vous plaît envoyer vos commentaires ici; Por favor, publique sus comentarios aquí.
There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
William Shakespeare
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
William Shakespeare
