A Long and Challenging Leg of Our Adventure
After a long but exciting flight we arrived at Ogle airport Georgetown, Guyana greeted with a bustle of officials who at first appeared hostile and unhelpful. They first ignored us and then made us wait in steaming sun while they closed the door and chatted, which seemed forever. But after Chris did his smiling professional pilot bit and we talked to them about our mission to raise organ awareness, what we were doing, why we are doing it, where we were flying .I think they thought we were a bit mad, doing our trip, flying over rainforests in our little Cessna but I think they began to warm up to us!!!
We had to fill in all kinds of paperwork, it took 4 types forms, which had to be copied and stamped, and signed. We got to visit the tower (which was actually brilliant, what view) where we talked to the nice controller about our trip and flight plans and negotiate fuel for our plane. Our new “friends” at the airport, once all the official stuff was dealt with VERY slowly, Donald, Trevor, Mr. Beard, La Rose, the whole team were fab!! Donald even arranged for a taxi driver (the smiling Lennox) to drive us to our hotel and also give us a tour around the city, which was fascinating.
This morning, we left Ogle and had a drama with our paperwork before we left, although we were treated so nicely you couldn’t get angry!! I did the take- off on the tiny runway that looked like a taxi way. I was not really going to do it, but everyone just assumes that Chris is the only one that is a pilot in our team, they see a black women (or even woman) step from the plane and never ask if me if I can fly also. Even when they know I have flown in or just landed, they still talk passed me when discussing the flight plan fuel etc. It does bug me sometimes, considering this day and age!!So for our farewell to our friends I did a swift take off just to prove I could, but also for the fun of it!
Our trip to Cayenne took us over Suriname; we flew along the coast at mainly 1000 feet to get a good view of the coast and jungle below. We spotted more scarlet Ibis and Flamingos as Chris clicked away taking many picture along the route. The water was not the amazing blue we had seen at the start of our trip, or the chocolate milk coloured liquid we had spotted in the previous river deltas. The sea was a much darker blue and the rivers we saw today over Paramaribo and along route were more of a sluggish coffee hue, and in some part a reddish henna tint.
Heading to French Guiana the canopy of trees below us fast became a really a dense jungle, as we flew along we started to notice hills emerging as we swooped toward the airport. Mist was starting to form all around us as we crept towards the end part of our flying for the day. It was so remarkable to be passing over such stunning scenery; I got a little spooked out when the mist spread its web around the jungle beneath us, covering the trees like a blanket.
We finally spotted the lights at Rochambeau Airport in Cayenne, where we landed next to Air France A340, how our little plane looked so small!!!!
Tomorrow we head for Belem, Brazil on the banks of the Amazon after we cross the Equator.
After a long but exciting flight we arrived at Ogle airport Georgetown, Guyana greeted with a bustle of officials who at first appeared hostile and unhelpful. They first ignored us and then made us wait in steaming sun while they closed the door and chatted, which seemed forever. But after Chris did his smiling professional pilot bit and we talked to them about our mission to raise organ awareness, what we were doing, why we are doing it, where we were flying .I think they thought we were a bit mad, doing our trip, flying over rainforests in our little Cessna but I think they began to warm up to us!!!
We had to fill in all kinds of paperwork, it took 4 types forms, which had to be copied and stamped, and signed. We got to visit the tower (which was actually brilliant, what view) where we talked to the nice controller about our trip and flight plans and negotiate fuel for our plane. Our new “friends” at the airport, once all the official stuff was dealt with VERY slowly, Donald, Trevor, Mr. Beard, La Rose, the whole team were fab!! Donald even arranged for a taxi driver (the smiling Lennox) to drive us to our hotel and also give us a tour around the city, which was fascinating.
This morning, we left Ogle and had a drama with our paperwork before we left, although we were treated so nicely you couldn’t get angry!! I did the take- off on the tiny runway that looked like a taxi way. I was not really going to do it, but everyone just assumes that Chris is the only one that is a pilot in our team, they see a black women (or even woman) step from the plane and never ask if me if I can fly also. Even when they know I have flown in or just landed, they still talk passed me when discussing the flight plan fuel etc. It does bug me sometimes, considering this day and age!!So for our farewell to our friends I did a swift take off just to prove I could, but also for the fun of it!
Our trip to Cayenne took us over Suriname; we flew along the coast at mainly 1000 feet to get a good view of the coast and jungle below. We spotted more scarlet Ibis and Flamingos as Chris clicked away taking many picture along the route. The water was not the amazing blue we had seen at the start of our trip, or the chocolate milk coloured liquid we had spotted in the previous river deltas. The sea was a much darker blue and the rivers we saw today over Paramaribo and along route were more of a sluggish coffee hue, and in some part a reddish henna tint.
Heading to French Guiana the canopy of trees below us fast became a really a dense jungle, as we flew along we started to notice hills emerging as we swooped toward the airport. Mist was starting to form all around us as we crept towards the end part of our flying for the day. It was so remarkable to be passing over such stunning scenery; I got a little spooked out when the mist spread its web around the jungle beneath us, covering the trees like a blanket.
We finally spotted the lights at Rochambeau Airport in Cayenne, where we landed next to Air France A340, how our little plane looked so small!!!!
Tomorrow we head for Belem, Brazil on the banks of the Amazon after we cross the Equator.
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