Across the Border

Well, I spent many days in Mexico as you can see. Ecap, Kathy, Argento and Mrs. Ecap all had a wonderful time. Mexico City is HUGE. One of the most populous cities in the world and, to make things worse, somehow the streets layout is one of the most confusing in the world as well. Glad we had Ecap around because I was lost as soon as we left the airport. We went to the Aztec Stadium, the UNAM campus, we visited the Zocalo and the Archeological Museum. Not to mention the tours to the many archeological sites in and around the city.

Of course we went to Cancun to relax by the beach. Ecap is great to have around, he knows lots about Argentina too, so we embarked into many conversations until late at night about our two countries, their similarities and their differences.
He is also and accomplished pilot which will be very helpful for the remaining of our trip. My old Goose had a technical problem and it will need some extensive repairs. Ecap without hesitation lent us his Beechcraft Kingair which we'll be using until the Goose is repaired.

So, early in the morning we got aboard the King for our flight to the land of the free.

Here's a pic of us in the King passing close to the Pyramids near Mexico City.

This is the Temple of the Sun, 50 miles from Mexico City, in Teotihuacan, buil by an ancient culture and a worshipping place for the Aztec people. I know it does not look too good on the FSX. Truth to be told, I could'n find many good realistic landscapes in Mexico. I am expecting for a dedicated scenery to be released for the country, it looks as generic as Argentina on the simulator.

Anyways, we are off to the States! I will need to learn to find my way around the new cockpit, as you can see:


Departing from the Lic.Benito Juárez Natl.Airport.:


Looks like another stormy day. The smog over Mexico City doesn't help, either:





Above the clouds, the sun still shines. The plane is jumping all around, despite the peaceful image! The only one who seems happy is Ecap, joking as if nothing happened.


Look at those clouds!

Flying above Queretaro...

Under the sunlight...

After crossing the California Bay, we arrived at Tijuana, south of the border! Bye bye Latinamerica, we love you!

A few miles north and we are already near Pumpdoc's home. Welcome to San Marcos, CA!

Oops, a little too high get ready for some heavy braking!

PD was waiting for us at the McLellan, Palomar Airport. Ah, it was so great to see him!


He gave us his R.Lee Ermey impersonation and acted all gruffy and such. Then he smiled and we all had a laugh. Now, I've heard San Marcos has the best restaurants in California so we better go get something to eat because I am starving. I am no fan of Mexican food (love the spicy bit, but I only consider steak, potatos and pasta as edible products). Mind you, PD has proclaimed many time his cooking skills so I guess we are in for a treat here!

Next, two very short trips to pick Yoda and the mighty Puma!

Welcome to California, a sunny place for shady people! (Just kidding!)

Viva Mexico!

We didn't have much time at Trinidad and before you could spell "Heikki Kovalainen" we were already embarked again in the Goose. We have crossed the equator before reaching Trinidad, so now we are in the northern hemisphere. In front of us, the Caribbean. We departed in the afternoon, so we will probably arrive to Mexico in the middle of the night. Argento is just too funny and easygoing, is good to have someone from back home while traveling foreign lands. He brought "mate" (our national beverage, it's like tea, but you use a special device to drink it...too complicated to explain! Read here for details, it's worth it)

He is also a rabid fan of Boca Juniors, one of the two main football teams in Argentina, I am a fan from the other one, River Plate which is not doing well lately so I have to bear his constant digs at me.

Katy, meanwhile is having the time of her life. She is rather shy but very sweet and keeps laughing at Argento. If these two people don't stop jumping around the plane this is going to be a long trip!

Anyways, we start our Caribbean cruise. Soon, we are flying above the Netherland Antilles:


Curacao comes next:


The sun has set and we are low on fuel, so it's time for a short refuelling stop at Kingston, Jamaica.
Katy insists that we should stop there and travel the city, but Ecap is waiting impatiently for us so we must practically drag her back aboard the plane!

Jamaica, at night:

Uh oh...climate has been merciful with us so far, but that came to an end when we encountered a huge thunderstorm between Jamaica an Belize. The plane rattles like a tin can. Argento and Kathy are thankfuly asleep, for it's a jumpy trip until we finally can fly through the storm:

Finally, when I am about to fall asleep on the yoke, Mexico D.F. appears through the clouds! It has been a hard flight in the middle of the night, with some crosswind and travelling between the clouds and the mountains. I am exhausted but happy.

Here we are on final at the Benito Juarez Intl. landing strip:


You can tell is a busy airport


It's 3 a.m. and temp is 15ºC Ecap was kind enough to stay awake and come pick us up at the airport. We are off to sleep, and tomorrow we will enjoy the beauties of Mexico! Mrs.Ecap and Kathy are already talking about a quick trip to Cancun, while I dream of visiting the Mayan and Aztec ruins (yeah, I am a nerd)

Stay tuned for more!

Intermission I: Rio to Trinidad

Ok, this will take longer than expected. The Goose can't carry that much fuel so, even if I fill every available space with reserve fuel, we could still barely make it to the island of Trinidad, just north of Venezuela.

Departing from Galeao at 5 p.m. after spending some days enjoying the beauties of Rio and no, I don't mean the landscape or architecture ;-). It is still winter in these parts of the world, but temperature here is around 25ºC during the day, as warm as a warm spring day for me.
We went to walk down the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon, been to the Barra da Tijuca, did some bar hopping at night and such. Rio is still as huge, violent, sexy and vibrant as it was when I was a child. But it has grown so much, and there are so many new beautiful hotels, shopping and such...i hardly recognize it.


Some clouds over Rio as we fly over the Rio Niteroi Bridge

A Rio postal: the famous Cristo Redentor at Corcovado Hill, at the back, the beaches of Botafogo and Flamengo and the Hill of Sugar Loaf and Urca.


The Lagoa!

We've been flying for hours now way up north. We arrived to Recife, near the eastermost parts of Brazil, where it almost reaches Africa. After spending the night there we depart very early in the morning for another maratonic flight.

The sun is about to rise as we fly near Fortaleza.


This is no rainforest, these are the arid lands of the Sertao, where the Cangaceiros used to raid. They were misfits that terrorized the region during the 19th and beginning of 20th century. Many of them were mere villains, but some of them were considered heroes by the peasants, fighting injustice.

Isn't this sunrise beautiful?

Behold the Amazon River! One of the longest and the greatest in terms of water volume carried.
Wish I could rent a boat and travel up river into the rainforest regions until Manaus, but you guys are so impatient and there is just too much distance to travel.


Close to the Island of Trinidad, where we are going to have a break. Below us, the Atlantic Ocean looks gorgeous. Those clouds, tough, mean that a storm might be closing in, better to arrive fast at Puerto España, the main city at Trinidad to spend the night.


Here we are! A beautiful airport just outside Puerto España, the capital. Trinidad is a beautiful tropical island that was once part of the continent. It has some unique flora and fauna (the groups of flying Scarlet Ivis are a sight to behold). This is also the land of the Calypso music, so I guess we are going to dance all night long!

And so it began...

Welcome to the TF1 travel diaries!

This is my virtual tour to pay you all good friends a visit on my old, but faithful Gunman Goose.
It's a little over 8.30 a.m., and it is a beautiful day here in Buenos Aires, gentle winds and not a single cloud. This is the main runway of the Ezeiza Airport, and it's time to take off!


Here we go, a long journey that will take you around the world has begun! First stop: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to visit Katy H. We are expeting to arrive to the Jobim Airport ("Galeao") in about 7.30 hours. It's a long trip, but hopefully very calm as most of the terrain we are going to travel through is plain. Expect some turbulence over Santa Catarina.
Bye bye Ezeiza Airport!

A brief look at the instruments to make sure everything is OK.

You can see the suburban area of Buenos Aires. FSX did not make a good job of depicting Buenos Aires reallistically, so it looks rather generic. Anyways, beyond the city is a huge mass of water. No, that is not the Atlantic Ocean. Is the broadest river in the world, called Río de la Plata (River Plate) it's over 100miles wide when it reaches the south Atlantic!




After a long travel through Uruguay, and south of Brazil, we are now over the Altantic Ocean, just 50 nautical miles south from Rio de Janeiro.


Bem-vindos a Rio! On the right you can just make the top of the Morro Pao de Azucar (Sugar Loaf Hill) and to the left, the Rio-Niteroi bridge. Fasten your seat belts!


This is the tricky part...


Finally, at 4 p.m., we arrive to the Galeao Airport. The temperature is....I forgot to take note of the temperature...sorry! But it won't be too cold, that I can assure you! Now is time to park the plane, and catch the sunset over the Guanabara Bay. Katy is waiting for us, stunning as always!

Get ready for some feijoada and some authentic Brazilian beer (Brahma) For me it is going to be just a guarana drink, for I don't drink beer :-(


I am surprised to hear the musical tone of Katy's laughter, you would have never imagined it just by reading her posts. Of course, we kept talking about Nick (and I kept saying Robert is so much better just to annoy her) Her carioca accent is just too cute! We are going to have a great time! Tomorrow we will go to the beaches of Leblon and Ipanema, and no, I won't go to the Pao de Azucar or the Corcovado, already been there, but you can go if you want to.

If Katy so desires, she can jump onto our plane for the next leg of out tour: Mexico D.F.!

Hope you enjoyed our first flight! See you soon, my friends.