A week in Santa Terezinha has flown by. Time is different in Bahia. Everything is slower, no one is concerned about what time it is, and mainly no nervous rush. Breakfast in the morning, a run up the hill, flight, adventurous return, where it's easy to lose track of a few hours in a garage bar and see other destinies. Idyllic. All the while you're thinking if somehow this piece of paper in your pocket that is supposed to get you back to Europe isn't somehow losing its value.



    But back to our travels. After several beautiful days of flying we head out with noticeably lighter packs with a tent and sleeping bags, to the Chapada Diamantina National Park, further inland in Bahia. The Chapada Diamantina territory is a cliffy upper plain with many canyons, rivers, caves, romantic lakes and in bygone times was the stomping ground of many fortune hunters - diamonds were mined here and in many places where there are piles of rock, the past is visible.

    We enjoyed several days of freedom, even though we were glad that after the first three days of fighting our way through the jungle without a machete, our motto being, "Today I'll make it over to that stump", we finally, on our last bit of strength and many scrapes and scratches, got to a place showing signs of civilization. A small plantation in the middle of nowhere with pineapples, sugarcane, bananas, coffee and a small mud house. An invitation to coffee, one of those roots boiled in saltwater and the world is a brighter place. The wildlife, the raging rivers and besides the above-mentioned tourist attractions, not another soul around. For those who are adventurous and don't care what they're eating or drinking after two days, onward to Diamantina. Only the return to civilization, even though it was Brazilian, was not easy.





    From Chapada we move further south to the city of Vitoria, the capital city of the state of Espirito Santo. And we get lucky - Frank Brown, instead of flying on Christmas is spending time with his family, but has recommended another crazy person to fly with. And so, singing Christmas carols, we're off up the hill to the village of Alfredo Chaves, approximately 20km as the crow flies from the ocean. For the first time in Brazil we take off on a green meadow, without brush, roots or rocks. The thermals are beautifully gentle and not treacherous, even though I don't understand where they come from in this humid valley. Flying is low, over the sugarcane, just like over the coconut trees and we peacefully enjoy the green-saturated landscape. Even if the cloud base is around 1100m above sea level, flying over the waterfalls, of which there are several within a space of a few kilometers here, is wonderful and we tour the area. We couldn't have wished for a better Christmas gift.

    It rains the next two days, and we have our first two non-flying days, sitting on the veranda, (there are no hammocks here, in contrast to northern Brazil), smoking cigars and watching the calm quiet village life. It may not be Bahia, but at the very end of the dirt road below the hill, we are after all still running from sophisticated civilization, that is expanding from the direction of Rio.

    And so just as a murderer always returns to the scene of the crime, several weeks later we stand on the landing ground at Sao Conrado in Rio de Janeiro. In contrast to our first visit, when there was a race taking place here and Chico of GoUp Brazil took us under his wing, this time the local town group, that controls operations here tries out their extortion practices upon us, trying to get the Gringo's last funds. When they come visit the Czech Republic, I won't let them up on the cable on a winch either. I don't support highway robbery, and thoroughly enjoy the last bit of goofing around in the waves of the ocean and trading funny stories with pilots. Silver couldn't resist and does some flying below the cloud bases and 350m above sea level. With a take off at 400m it wasn't the exactly the highest possible path, but it was alright. In the previous days people apparently flew up to the Christ statue, but that would be too much to ask for.





    Our journey comes to an end, and we board the plane. The cold is the last thing we are afraid of, and so when you meet us and we're vacantly staring off into space or shaking our heads uncomprehendingly, don't hold it against us and just try to make us smile with a joke. I would also be very grateful for your e-mailed reactions to this report, which would have not been possible without the support of Standa at SkyFly and the Gradient Company, who deserve a big Thank you. If you're interested in learning more details or interesting stories, don't hesitate to write to me at charlierx@email.cz or we can go out for a beer in some out of the way pub in Brno.



    "Tudo bem" and see you in North-Eastern Brazil maybe for a longer time. Who knows ...