Belo Horizonte to Brasilia, Brazil

29 March - 1 April 2006

A warm welcome from our friends in Brasilia

We got up early in Ouro Preto for the drive to Belo Horizonte airport. We had some trouble finding it which delayed us by about half an hour. Infraero was quick working out the landing fee for once, but when doing the pre-take-off magneto check, the cylinder #2 left magneto spark plug was dead. The replacement of the spark plug went smoothly, but nevertheless delayed us by 45 minutes, so we only left by 11:23 LT. We were again fighting challenging storm cells during our IFR approach into Brasilia, and it was bucketing down with lightening 10 minutes after landing. But, thanks to Gérard Moss who came to welcome us, Honeymooney was under cover by then. He’d arranged a place in a hangar for us.
We spent a very pleasant three days in Brasilia, staying with fellow Earthrounders Margi and Gérard. Although we have known them for more than a couple of decades, we always seemed to be like ships (or rather aeroplanes) passing in the night, so finally we had a chance to really catch up with them. Nevertheless, it was a busy time for them. Not only were there deadlines to meet on their Brasil das Aguas project; they were also about to move house.
On our first evening Margi and Gérard's Italian friends Riccardo and Nelly invited us all to their house for dinner. They are also keen travellers so we had plenty of stories to swap. The next day we were invited to lunch at Patricia and Gunnar's house. When Patricia was a student, she spent a year living with Flemming’s brother and sister-in-law in Jutland to learn Danish. It was rather an unusual choice of country and language for a Brazilian girl but she adapted well to life in Denmark and even married a Dane, Gunnar. We were honoured to be the first of Flemming’s family to meet their son Johan who was only a few weeks old.
1 April 2006. Margi and Gérard took us on a tour of Brasila in the morning. They bought a basket at the handicrafts fair for their boisterous dog Shenzy (Swahili for viralata or mongrel) while we took the lift up the TV tower for a bird’s eye view of the city. Then we visited the cathedral and the Museu do Indio. After an excellent buffet lunch at a restaurant that looked like a giant Xingu Indian hut called Oca da Tribu we visited Nelson Piquet's airstrip. Flemming went for a ride with one of Nelson’s friends in his plane and we all took turns on Nelson’s new toy on two wheels – a Segway. Battery operated, it moves forward when you lean forward and reverses when you lean back.
Another friend of Margi and Gérard, Renu Chahil-Graf, kindly invited us all for a cosy Indian dinner at her apartment.

Thanks:
Margi and Gérard Moss
Riccardo and Nelly Guariglia
Patricia Mainieri and Gunnar Pedersen
Renu Chahil-Graf