Puerto Píritu – Cupira - 104 km
The way to Cupira was lush and green and, as expected, overgrown and narrow. I
love the tropics and enjoy the heat and humidity, but I didn’t appreciate the many
snakes basking in the sun.
Cupira came after 104 kilometres, and the town centre was merely a few kilometres
further. As with many of these towns, the centre was utterly hectic. Still, we were
warming to the chaos and managed to find a lovely pousada that was ever-so
homely.
Cupira – Caucagua - 101 km
Even though a mountainous area, the route was stunning. Villagers sold cacao and
thinking “chocolate” it wasn’t as tasty as I envisaged. In fact, it was extremely
bitter, which made its popularity even more surprising.
Caucagua was situated atop a hill, and a narrow cobblestoned path led to the
(anticipated) chaotic town centre. There wasn’t anything of interest, and we
returned to the turn-off. The petrol station at the junction offered toilets as well as
a few shops and at first looked good enough to spend the night. The place,
however, turned out extremely noisy, with a strong smell of pee, and easily one of
the worst places I had ever pitched a tent. If that wasn’t enough, people warned us
that it could be dangerous and that one could be robbed or, even worse, killed at
night! We set up the tents anyhow.