After coming back from my last trip to the Brazilian Highlands on April
30, I am already planning my next trip in early June, although I have a
huge backlog of Photoshop waiting on my hard disk. But my love for the
Highlands, its beautiful landscapes, the flowers in the savanna all
year long (but each time of the year different), the small farmers and
cowboys living in adobe houses covered with palm thatch, the dirt
mountain roads… all this beats my need to work on Photoshop. My 4×4
Ranger pickup is already being prepared by MENESES OFF-ROAD,
. The synchronization of 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st has to be fixed, on
my last trip I had to double-clutch all the time on dirt mountain roads
(it added to the fun). A new gearbox is too expensive, and the
available third-party synchronization parts are of poor quality.
Meneses is still looking for a used gearbox in good condition.
Meanwhile he is preparing two cars for the RALLY DOS SERTOES,
probably the toughest rally after Dakar, which was run in Argentina and
Chile this year because of terrorist threats in Mauritania. Actually
the same team won the Sertoes last year and Dakar this year with a
Volkswagen Touareg. A blog showing the obstacles this year
(but not saying where: it will be revealed to the pilots and navigators
only the day previous to each stage) is worth having a look at. Don´t
forget to click on “Próxima” after scrolling down each page. I hope to
be able to photograph the preparation of the cars (they are completely
modified) and Meneses told me I would possibly be able to accompany one
of his support cars (which follow a parralel route) at least for one of
the stages. Before and after the
race I will be in the highlands with my small farmer and cowboy
friends, and enjoy finding my way among the rocks to take photographs
of the beautiful nature of the highland rocky savanna, finding flowers
I have never seen before. Hopefully the Vellozias will be in full
bloom. I am buying a car-top tent that opens automatically when you pull down the ladder, it will stand on a metal frame so
the rear cargo area of my Ranger can still be used (image at bottom of Meneses´site, without the added metal frame).