After an all-night flight in the A-330 I arrived into ... I almost don't remember now where I was. Ah yes, I arrived into Trinidad and Tobago. Then there was a pre-dawn flight in an ATR-42 and I awoke in Boa Vista, Brazil. I was tired and jet-lagged and frankly feeling pretty out-of-sorts.
I staggered down to the lobby of the hotel Joao had arranged for us and asked for an internet connection. Between the fresh-baked little pastry-thing and the brutally strong Brazilian coffee I was able to find the following information:
"Boa Vista is the capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima and is situated on the western bank of the River Branco - only 136 mi from Brazil's border with Venezuela. It is the only Brazilian capital located entirely above the Equator and an equatorial climate predominates. These hot and wet conditions are ideal for the growth of plants so the vegetation is both dense and varied."
"Boa Vista is the capital of the Brazilian state of Roraima and is situated on the western bank of the River Branco - only 136 mi from Brazil's border with Venezuela. It is the only Brazilian capital located entirely above the Equator and an equatorial climate predominates. These hot and wet conditions are ideal for the growth of plants so the vegetation is both dense and varied."
"The name Boa Vista means Nice Sight or Nice View. It is also the most populous municipality in the state - Approximately one third of the people in the state live here. Its business is done mostly with Manaus, capital of the State of Amazonas, and with the city of Bonfim, in Guyana. These are the only two cities linked by road in this state so the airplane is the only way of transportation."
"This modern city is distinguished among the capitals in the North Region of Brazil as a planned city with a radial plan similar in fashion to that of Paris, France. The main avenues converge at the Civic Center Plaza, where the headquarters of three governmental branches reside (legislative, judiciary, and executive). Aside from the cultural attractions (theaters and palaces), there are hotels, banks, post offices, and cathedrals all worth seeing."
I spent several days just wandering the city like some sort of vagrant just trying to get hydrated and trying to orient myself to what I was doing here. I must be getting older because I used to just pop into these FOTMs with no difficulty! By Monday July 6th I was ready to roll ... I got up at 06:00 and just less than two hours later I had fired up the Flight Club's Twotter and was ready to head out on the first leg.
LEG 1: Boa Vista to Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira via Maturaca At 170 knots this is a trip of just under three hours. Really, other than the "PICO DA NEBLINA" (which I thought would never show up) there was nothing to see but flat jungle down there. I mused as I cruised along that a couple of sim versions ago I had thought about an Amazon Flight. I had even gone so far as to fly from Belem to Iquitos but hadn't seen much back then but water and flat green. Now the sim was better and Joao actually knows something about the area! Finally I got to SBZ3 and made the turn to Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira.
At this point a new PIC arrived - that being my seven-year old son. With our route already being pretty well in line with the runway he took over and finished the leg, stopping off responsibly at the fuel station. The idea of flying something fast and sporty up to Iquitos quickly passed and I spent the rest of the day relaxing in Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira as suggested.
LEG 2: Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira to Tapuruquara Mid-Day Tuesday I took the Flight Club's Cessna Caravan down to Tapuruquara,
following the river VFR (or was that VOR?) LEG 3: Tapuruquara to Barcelos For this leg (24 hours later) I transferred into a more historic, "Hall Flying Boat" which really, is little more than an actual boat with wings. But we bounced and bopped along quite well, 'bout 95 knots all the way to Barcelos. 
LEG 4: Barcelos to Moura Seems that this far up the Amazon, the only aircraft available to me are old timers. That's okay as the whole life here seems to move by very, very, v-e-r-y ..... slowly. Only 83 miles this time, actually not too bad in the old Rapite.
LEG 4: Barcelos to Moura Seems that this far up the Amazon, the only aircraft available to me are old timers. That's okay as the whole life here seems to move by very, very, v-e-r-y ..... slowly. Only 83 miles this time, actually not too bad in the old Rapite.
LEG 5: Moura to Manaus Later that same afternoon I climbed up into the pretty modern-looking King Air 350 and headed off to ... what most around here consider the center of civilization. 
Much faster but unremarkable flight.
Much faster but unremarkable flight. LEG 6: Manaus to Cartagena Finally by week's end I was able to secure a Lear 45 flight to Colombia where I figured I could do more sight-seeing.
Joao, still pretty flat along the Nigro and Amazon Rivers, MSFS lacks the REALLY THICK jungles I'd like to see but it's far better than earlier versions and the rivers are pretty accurate according to the maps I've seen. Thank you for the chance to again tour your country - hummmm, I wonder if FS.com has any Amazon Add-ons?
Okay, so until next month my sim will be hanging out in Colombia - in real life I'll be finishing up flying the Seychelles.
Cub Flounder at pretendpilot@yahoo.com
