May 6th, to Brazilia

May 6th to Brazilia

Ahh, back in the air again, 9000 feet, nice and cool. Four hours to SIQE, a private airport about 10 miles east of Brazilia. Just took my shoes off, that feels better.

We had a bit of a hassle getting out of Alta Florista airport; although it’s great working at a small airport where we could walk right to the planes, go to the bathroom just before departure, etc, the downside was that the tower guy didn’t speak any English and our Portuguese is zero. So, a plane coming in translated a little and I said what I thought he meant and finally got permission to depart. On our way again.

I just can’t express what a fantastic time we had in the Amazon jungle. I only listed about half of the things we saw and learned; it was just amazing. The Cristalino River which the camp was on, the “tea colored” river, flows into the Teles Pires river (named for a guy who drowned in it), a warmer and lighter colored more basic ph river, which flows into the Amazon. They are one of the top five tributaries to the Amazon. Brad, our English speaking guide (actually Canadian speaking), is a professional birder and, for those interested, can be reached at: http://www.birdingmatogrosso.com/ or Bradley@birdingmatogrosso.com I would highly recommend him as a tour guide if you are heading this way.

Another interesting fact about Alta Floresta; it currently has a population of 50,000, but during it’s peak gold rush days in the late 1970’s it had over 100,000 and the airport was one of the busiest in Brazil. The runway is long, 5,200 feet, because the planes had to go out heavily laden with gold. Fascinating. There’s still some “sifting” for gold out of the silt in the riverbed, but it’s only small scale as it’s not that cost effective.

After this visit, I’m looking forward to the Pantanal even more. That’s in the southwest of Brazil and will have even more wildlife. In this jungle there are the big cats, Jaguar and Puma, but they are rarely seen. The local guide, Fransisco, has been guiding for 14 years and has only seen them 19 times. We’ll be headed to the Pantanal on May 13th, next Thursday, and stay for four days. This evening we’ll join with the other Earthrounders and enjoy our time together visiting and touring.

For now, we’ll cruise along over green farm fields under a clear blue sky, unfortunately with headwinds, but enjoying the view. I’ll try reaching Wes and Sandy and maybe Rusty on the HF radio at noon. I was going to change out of my pilot’s uniform into comfortable clothes as I’m planning an oil change as soon as I arrive. But, Gerard, our host, has planned TV cameras and coverage for our arrival, so I need to look my best! ;-)

Well, well, I’ve finally got a 9 knot tailwind and am cruising along at 150 knots ground speed. What a nice change after the last few legs of headwinds and at the start of this leg also. Only an hour and 40 minutes to go. The apple that I had left in the cockpit wasn’t too rotten! So, that was lunch.

The land ahead is rising. Brazilia is at 3,400 feet elevation, so we are looking forward to nice warm days and cooler evenings with no rain as they have entered their dry season. I have a quick chat on the HF with Sandy, KE4EJ, but the propagation isn’t the best and sometimes it’s clear, other times not. Also, I’m getting close to Brazilia airspace and am going to have to talk with them.

Arrived at the small private airport next to Brazilia. Friends and newspaper people there to greet us. I had time to do my planned oil and filter change and look over the engine. We loaded our stuff into Gerard’s plane and he flew us 5 minutes to home. What a strip, 1300 feet, uphill, grass and he landed his Embrayer/Saratoga on it. Now it’s time to shower and head downstairs to meet everyone.

No more flying until next Tuesday; then we’ll be off again.