Yesterday

Yesterday was cake compared to today. Wow.. this last flight really made something out of me. Normally, a Cessna 172 wouldn't make it this far, but this airplane has extended fuel tanks which increase it's range... and boy, did we need every gallon of fuel on board. We had about an hour left when we landed, but that's just the bare minimum I want in my tanks when I land.

The plan was to wake up at 5am... we woke up at 730am. We took off to the airport right away and grabbed some grub along the way. Once we entered through the gate and onto security came the questions, "why do you both have knives?" Damn! Please don't take them away! We need them! After explaining that it was part of our survival gear and we needed them in case of a crash, they let us through. We continued onto the terminal with the rest of the passengers. I'm really glad they didn't take the knives and leatherman away, but it felt odd having a weapon in the terminal.

We continued to the airplane and started it up right away. Set everything up and a few minutes lated, we hit the skies. About 2 minutes into the flight we see the land drifting behind us. It will be over 5 hours before we can even see another piece of land; 6 hours before we fly over land (South America). Needless to say, this was a LONG leg. It is for this reason that I am eternally grateful that my friend Rob was able to tag along. We switched controls (flying the airplane) every 30 minutes or so because we knew it wasn't gonna be easy. We saw a few ships along the way, which made me think those guys had more balls than we did. Open ocean? Just like that? Wow! I also have MAD respect to all the pioneers of aviation (Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, etc.). That was no easy feat they both attempted.

Once we get over land, we land and square away everytihng with customs, immigration, and fuel. This place, French Guiana, appears to be French property... and it's EXPENSIVE!! The dollar sucks here! For a 20 minute cab ride, it cost me a mind-boggling $90 (with tip)!! I recently stayed at Aria in Las Vegas and the small hotel room I got at this place is the same price! Needless to say, this place is hurting the wallet right now... thankfully all expenses are being paid for or being reimbursed. 

Oh, and no one here speaks English. Ok, that's not true, there have been two people that speak it quite well, but the majority only knows very few words. The cool part is that I've had a great chance to practice my French, and may I say, it isn't bad! I've had some pretty good conversations with the people at customs, the fueler, and the cab driver... the cabby even said my French was pretty good, and that with practice it will be perfect.. Aww, isn't that sweet.

Well, kids, it's time to hit the hay. Tomorrow we're entering Brazil... and I remember watching City of God and it doesn't look all dandy and what not. It's definitely gonna be an adventure tomorrow. Thankfully, we're done with the water stuff... bring on the jungle, baby!

Cheers!