Lençois, Bahia, to Recife, Brazil

7 - 10 April 2006

Full circle round South America completed!

Fortunately Lençois airport is not managed by Infraero, and the landing/parking fee bill was ready when we arrived at 8:15 am. Flight plan and fees were done in less than 5 minutes, and we were in the air by 9 a.m. so we avoided most of the afternoon CBs. We only had to make a few detours to avoid the build-ups during the last hour before landing in the charming Encanta Moça aerodrome in Recife (IFR 3:42 hrs). We had finally completed the full loop around South America!
Warm reception by Lena and the Aeroclube de Pernambuco. Mr. Pereira (president of the Aeroclube de Pernambuco) kindly provided us with space in his hangar and Flemming got most of the 50 hours maintenance work done in the afternoon. We had to get the mosquito repellent out in a hurry, though. The beasties are vicious there.
Lena recently moved to a larger apartment so was able to invite us to stay with her and her daughter Gina. That evening, she invited her cousin Gileno and his wife Barbara round to see us. We met them for the first time on the way back from our world trip in 2002 when they invited us for a boat ride.
 

8 April. Spent most of the morning sorting the luggage (we need to airfreight at least 40 kilograms to Switzerland), finishing the maintenance and reinstalling the 35 US gallon tank on the rear seat for our return journey over the North Atlantic. Lena had looked after the tank for us since we first arrived in Recife in November.

In the afternoon, Lena took us for a visit to the Ricardo Brennand musem. We finished the day with the traditional dinner in Olinda's best restaurant: Oficina do Sabor.

9 April. Went with Lena to Maria Farinha north of Olinda where we had lunch. Delicious Japanese dinner in Recife in the evening. Lots of hooting cars, singing and screaming Brazilians around all night as there had been a football match that evening.

10 April. Packing the excess luggage up for shipment: 44 kg of camping gear and clothes for colder climates were packed up in two boxes and paperwork made ready for shipment. Lena kindly offered to ship the boxes on our return to Geneva so we’d be there to receive them. Farewell dinner with Gina and Lena in a nice restaurant by the beach in Olinda.

Thanks:

Lena Machado, Aeroclube de Pernambuco