Rio "Wonder City"

Heading back south for Christmas....

my take off in Pedra Bonita, Rio de Janeiro

I couldn't help a little stop in Rio to fly. The day was just gorgeous!
and Rio is really one amazing place in this planet!

long time no see

Is been a looong time since I last wrote something here. Yeah, is a trip after trip... A no ending adventure...

the Rally Bus

After my travels and flying in Bahia, it was time for the S.O.S Sertao Race and Rally Series (www.sossertao.com.br). I hooked up with the Rally Bus and left to Recife where the event would start. It was a week of flying, each day in a different place, crossing six states of Northeast Brazil.

take off in Aliaca, state of Pernambuco, the first leg of the Rally

More than the flying itself, the whole experience of traveling in such remote and isolated areas was priceless. The people, the food, the environment, the culture and music and even the different accents, made me feel like I wasn't in my own country. I discovered an entirely different face of Brazil.

a very common site in my travels around "sertao"

Beside the flying, the S.O.S Sertao aimed to bring aid to these very poor communities trough the distribution of basic food supplies and educational programs with doctors, nurses, teachers and entertainers. They administered talks in methods of contraception, in how to avoid some common diseases, nutrition, hygiene and etc. The organizers also put together a little mobile “adventure park” with a climbing wall, a trampoline and even a hang glider simulator for the kids at each of the little villages where we passed. Most of the people there had never seen a hang glider before, or even heard of it.

a normal scene in this rally... sometimes was very hard to set up and/or breakdown our gliders

Flying wise was more like an expedition than a race. Amazing and very strong sites, a couple of them where never flown before and in the last leg to Maranhao only two guys faced the challenge of flying with absolutely no landing options. They managed to find something not so bad to land, but most of the other pilots not even started the leg, after climbing up and realizing what we had ahead of us. And I was one of them.

Lencois Maranhenses, the ending point of the rally. Just Amazing!

Quixada, my new favorite place to fly!

But a couple of the sites that we flew where the best I have ever flown. Patu, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte and Quixada, in the state of Ceara. I was so amazed by Quixada that I decided to go back there after the Rally for one more week of flying. And it was intense! Strong winds, strong conditions and the result was my best flights ever! In my last day there I flew 217km, the best mark ever flown by a Brazilian female! Yhaa!

a very happy girl

Lagoinha and my new passion

Well, after all that flying was time to a vacation at the beach to meet up with Joe and Priscila again. I missed them sooo much! And here I am in Lagoinha, I just can't leave this place! A kitesurf paradise and I'm having a blast! I think Priscila found a new home....

Santa Terezinha

The perfect take off, in a cute little village, with a nice road to the ramp.


The view from behind the take off


A 20kts cross wind! No flying for me....

Unfortunately wasn't possible to take off today, but was nice to know this beautiful site.
Today I'm leaving to a nearby city to get a ride with the bus that is taking the gliders to the Rally, in Recife.
Check some more info about the rally here: www.goup.com.br

Jacobina Open

I was impressed(and scared)with the take off in Jacobina. Very windy, turbulent and low, just 240 meters.

getting there

In a unstable day like the first day of the Jacobina Open, one mistake and the landing field would be your destiny, very quick! But (almost thankfully) just 4 pilots where able to take off that day ( and I wasn't one of them), because the wind had shifted , and just 3 of them went to the free distance task. The longest flight was 104km, flown by Felipe, a young guy from Governador Valadares and 101km flown by Cesar Castro, a very well known pilot from Rio Grande do Sul, the other extreme of the country. The other flight was 74km made by Anselmo a local pilot from Bahia.

Some paragliders where trying to take off early in the morning of saturday, when we arrived at the take off

The second day was even more unstable, with a lot of cirrus type formations but at least the conditions for take off where better. Was a real lottery day and all of the pilots who took off before me landed right there at the base of the mountain, after strugling with broken thermals for a little while. I was lucky and got something weak and finally could gain altitude enough to cross the mountain range, one of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen from the air. I wish I had some pics...

Me bringing back prizes for a 15k flight!

Some pilots took off again, but just one could get passed the mountain range like me. The conditions where weak and a inversion layer at 1.000 meters was very difficult to trespass. So I wasn't able to cross the second obstacle, a mesa kind of mountain with not too many options for landing, so I decided to came back and landed at the city airport, just 15km away, but enough to win the task.

Saying bye bye to Joe and Priscila

We arrived in Jacobina last night and today Joe left with Priscila to go to Ceara coast to kitesurf. Me? I'm going to miss them for sure, but I think flying is going to keep me distracted for a while...

On the road to Jacobina

We left chapada after one last waterfall bath and got in our way to Jacobina, for a litlle hangliding competition, 350km away. This was our shorter leg so far and we thought that would be a piece of cake...

almost 300km of roads like that. Unbelievable!

The trip was very slow, stressful, but ecstasiating at the same time. We arrived at jacobina at 9PM, after almost ten hours on the road. 300km in 10 hours! That has to be a record!


A black dust devil! And I started to get a little apprehensive about the conditions of the flight...


Pigs covered with mud crossing the road where just one of the unreal things we saw



A very traditional type of construction in the arid countryside, that me and Joe called "The real middle of nowhere"

Getting on the gorgeous "Chapada Diamantina"

The reward of a long and hard drive

One and a half day of driving and we finally arrived at one of the most beautiful places in the country. Chapada Diamantina, in the state of Bahia, is a famous destination for those who like to enjoy nature in its most pure form.




The mountains are gorgeous and the little villages are very colorful in simple colonial style. Beside the arid surroundings, the area of the mountain range of Chapada Diamantina is an oasis of rivers, waterfalls and wildlife of all sorts.


Me enjoying a massage from nature!


Joe, exploring...


Little shops in colorful colonial houses


Amazing traditional food from Bahia: Moqueca de frutos do mar e pirao de peixe com pimenta

Trying to get out of Minas Gerais...

That was a hard test for Priscila. A Lot of driving!

Minas is one of the biggest states in Brazil and took us 14hours of bad roads to get out of it... and we had some navigation problems as well

... And we are finally in Bahia!

The farther north we go, the drier, poorer and more remote it gets.

The Hike

Serra do Cipo National Park is Beautiful!

"Cachoeira da Farofa" our first stop at Serra do Cipo

After all day sitting in the car, today we left Priscila resting and went for a hardcore hike at The National Park. Tirty six kilometers in the amazing Serra do Cipo.

Joe on the trail to the Canyon

We encountered a group of these moody little monkeys in the middle of our hike. We weren't sure if they only looked mad or just weren't happy of us being there.

"Canyon das Bandeirinhas" another of many beauties at the Park

Was an awesome day and we are exhausted! Tomorow we will put Priscila to work again.

In our way to Serra do Cipó National Park

The second leg: Andradas to Serra do Cipó (aprox.600km)

We pretty much drove all day! Our average speed is 80km/h and Priscila is cute, but noisy! So it was very nice to arrive at the pousada after almost ten hours on the road.

Finally enjoying the view at the little restaurant (located in an authentic colonial farmhouse) in the heart of Minas Gerais

But life is good and after all that “saga” we both agree that tonight we had the best food so far since we arrived in Brazil: “Escondidinho com Moranga”, a cream of pumpkin with cheese and sun dried beef, served over rice. AMAZING!

Joe, under the blessings of "Nossa Senhora Aparecida" (virgin Mary), the patron saint of Brazil.

Now we rest with a happy belly and hopes for tomorrow hike at the Serra do Cipó National Park.

Andradas!

My first foot launch in a looong time!

Was a fine day considering yesterday's rain. The lift was weak in general, but the thermals had very strong centers sometimes and the flight at the valley was turbulent with shifting winds.

Besides my good friends Berimbau and Ronaldao, I think most pilots didn't think the flight was going to happen, so I pretty much had Andradas all to myself on a Saturday! That was NICE!!!!

Crossing Brasil with Priscila

Meet Priscila!


That's right! We are ready for an adventure. We are going to cross Brazil in my Volkswagen.

Me and Joe ready for the first leg: Salesopolis (Sao Paulo) to Andradas (minas Gerais)
Priscila made it great! We've got a lot of rain in Atibaia, was kind of scary but the rain stopped around Campinas and four hours later we arrived at the destination.We are starting to trust that we will make it all the way North now... It was gray in Andradas today, so there was nothing left to do but eat some typical Minas food (deep fried pig fat, collard greens, ribs, rice and beans) and hope that tomorrow I would be able to fly.

Joe's adventure in a crowded Sao Paulo

A day of hiking the concrete jungle. Some fine street art.... and lots of carbon monoxide!

....and lots of carbon monoxide!


Joe experiencing the public transportation in the most populated city in Brazil. I don't think he want to do it again....

florida don't suck

Not bad for a summer day!