May 13, flight to Barranco Alto
We all have an early breakfast and start out on the bumpy red clay road back to the air port at Alta Paraiso. The planes are still sitting quietly next to each other on the empty ramp with the nice terminal building and no restrooms. We load up, back taxi and head out. Angela is with us this time. She had to drive last time due to the fuel problem. Claude is headed to Brazilia by car then home to Perth, Australia. So, Wayne gets all the luggage in his roomy Bonanza and Flemming and Angela fly with me, see picture, as they have a Mooney and we had this trip planned for a long time.
As we are outside Brazilia airspace, we can fly VFR without a flight plan and without talking to anyone. I take off first, as usual, and Wayne follows. As this airport doesn’t have any fuel and our next stop doesn’t have any fuel, we are headed for an intermediate fuel stop just two hours away. It’s a cool morning and the runway elevation is 4400 feet. There is a slight breeze and we take off to the east. The runway is crowned, so we have a bit of uphill as we start out and the takeoff roll is a little longer than calculated, but we’re off and climbing. We can enjoy the scenery this time and take pictures of the hills and Cerrada wilderness. We cruise at a pleasantly calm 6500 feet with Wayne behind us a little higher.
In less than two hours, the mountains and high terrain gave way to fields and farm lands. We spot the airport on the other side of a large town, land and park. Wayne landed ahead of us and has the gas truck in front of his plane. The next runway is a short grass strip, so we both take only enough to get there and to our next fuel stop, plus reserve. There is a nice little terminal with restrooms and food. In no time we are on our way again climbing out over vast areas of green fields and trees. It could have been a flight in the US for the ease and ability to get everything done. Wonderful.
The fields get bigger and we are over a major agricultural area then we see the escarpment in the distance and the Pantanal beyond. The Pantanal is much lower in elevation and there are lakes and rivers everywhere. It seems very wet. It’s just the end of the wet season and will dry up over the next four months. After two more hours we see our little strip and land. Wayne is already there and our hosts, Lucas and Marina, are there to greet us. No more flying for four days. It was great to be able to see so much of Brazil, VFR, and to go wherever we wanted.
The runway is very close to the lodge, so we can walk back and forth and get whatever we need from the plane.
That afternoon we went on our first outing. Our guides, Carol and Fernando, took us in the jeep to the north side of this farm. Right away we saw Rae ostrich and a crab-eating fox. Soon we saw and smelled the white-lipped Peccary that we had heard about in Cristalino. We got out of the jeep and walked a while and saw a tapir, see picture. There are only about 20 or so on the farm, so this was a good find. As we were watching the tapir, to the left was a group of four collared Peccary. They travel in smaller groups than the white-lipped Peccary and are not seen as often.
As we travel back to the lodge in the jeep, with the beam light searching the forest for more animals, we see a giant ant-eater walking along a path. Unfortunately, it disappeared quickly into the forest. We saw the orange eyes of lots of caiman in the lakes along with several nightjars.
Arriving back at the lodge, we had a sumptuous meal and relaxed peacefully. What a place. You can find out more at: http://www.fazendabarrancoalto.com.br/ and http://www.pantanal.biz/. We have four days here, so I’m sure we’ll see a lot more.
We all have an early breakfast and start out on the bumpy red clay road back to the air port at Alta Paraiso. The planes are still sitting quietly next to each other on the empty ramp with the nice terminal building and no restrooms. We load up, back taxi and head out. Angela is with us this time. She had to drive last time due to the fuel problem. Claude is headed to Brazilia by car then home to Perth, Australia. So, Wayne gets all the luggage in his roomy Bonanza and Flemming and Angela fly with me, see picture, as they have a Mooney and we had this trip planned for a long time.
As we are outside Brazilia airspace, we can fly VFR without a flight plan and without talking to anyone. I take off first, as usual, and Wayne follows. As this airport doesn’t have any fuel and our next stop doesn’t have any fuel, we are headed for an intermediate fuel stop just two hours away. It’s a cool morning and the runway elevation is 4400 feet. There is a slight breeze and we take off to the east. The runway is crowned, so we have a bit of uphill as we start out and the takeoff roll is a little longer than calculated, but we’re off and climbing. We can enjoy the scenery this time and take pictures of the hills and Cerrada wilderness. We cruise at a pleasantly calm 6500 feet with Wayne behind us a little higher.
In less than two hours, the mountains and high terrain gave way to fields and farm lands. We spot the airport on the other side of a large town, land and park. Wayne landed ahead of us and has the gas truck in front of his plane. The next runway is a short grass strip, so we both take only enough to get there and to our next fuel stop, plus reserve. There is a nice little terminal with restrooms and food. In no time we are on our way again climbing out over vast areas of green fields and trees. It could have been a flight in the US for the ease and ability to get everything done. Wonderful.
The fields get bigger and we are over a major agricultural area then we see the escarpment in the distance and the Pantanal beyond. The Pantanal is much lower in elevation and there are lakes and rivers everywhere. It seems very wet. It’s just the end of the wet season and will dry up over the next four months. After two more hours we see our little strip and land. Wayne is already there and our hosts, Lucas and Marina, are there to greet us. No more flying for four days. It was great to be able to see so much of Brazil, VFR, and to go wherever we wanted.
The runway is very close to the lodge, so we can walk back and forth and get whatever we need from the plane.
That afternoon we went on our first outing. Our guides, Carol and Fernando, took us in the jeep to the north side of this farm. Right away we saw Rae ostrich and a crab-eating fox. Soon we saw and smelled the white-lipped Peccary that we had heard about in Cristalino. We got out of the jeep and walked a while and saw a tapir, see picture. There are only about 20 or so on the farm, so this was a good find. As we were watching the tapir, to the left was a group of four collared Peccary. They travel in smaller groups than the white-lipped Peccary and are not seen as often.
As we travel back to the lodge in the jeep, with the beam light searching the forest for more animals, we see a giant ant-eater walking along a path. Unfortunately, it disappeared quickly into the forest. We saw the orange eyes of lots of caiman in the lakes along with several nightjars.
Arriving back at the lodge, we had a sumptuous meal and relaxed peacefully. What a place. You can find out more at: http://www.fazendabarrancoalto.com.br/ and http://www.pantanal.biz/. We have four days here, so I’m sure we’ll see a lot more.
CarolAnn,
ReplyDeleteI certainly am enjoying your blog and all of the pictures. I am Wayne's daughter in law!