We left Tucurui at 8am as usual and embarked on an almost 500km final stretch to the big city of Belem, on the Atlantic Coast. The ride was uneventful, all paved, with regular stops for snacks, drinks, fuel, and the occasional picture.
Right outside Tucurui is the Tucurui dam, the largest (lengthwise) dam I have ever seen. A great ride on top of the dam wall.
The farmland here seemed way more mature and developed than anywhere else we have seen deeper in the jungle ... big farmland plots being plowed and being productive, big palm tree farms, tractors everywhere, nice Facienda houses, nice paved roads to market, lots of trucks, etc.
I guess, this is what the middle of the Amazon will eventually develop into. I was actually surprised that it did not look that bad ... lots of green ... more economic activity ... more wealth ... and I guess more food for the world. Hard to decide what is best ... farms like this or wild nature left alone.
One of our big trip milestones was achieved today ... we made it across the entire Amazon basin from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans ... and we all made it to our hotel riding a motorcycle ... in spite of all the mechanical issues and injuries ... and a final incident with a bus hitting one of the motorcycles in the Belem traffic ... all good.
We are spending 2 nights here so it was time to do laundry ... finally, a town with electricity and water. After a nice dinner at our hotel, we called it a day.
Tomorrow, we will get things ready, play tourist, and prepare for the long boat trip up the river to continue our journey North to French Guyana.
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