This was a very short and not so sweet nightstop. We arrived in to Cayenne really exhausted in the middle of a rain storm. We got our plane topped off and fuelled, but after a long wait in the rain and no ground support a kind refueller got his boss to take us from our plane to the required authorities on the ground.This were quick and efficient, getting through customs and immigration and completing paperwork was fast compared to our previous experiences but this was of course part of France so they were on the ball. 
At the hotel, a well known "western establishment" that were staying in,we had the French police and many French Guiana army types of men also staying at our hotel, wandering around our lobby with back packs, crew cut hair, boots and army fatigues.
When we got to our room, I notice many of the men grouping up and chatting in the corridor.We ordered room service which was a Croque Madame and salad.Chris reckoned that no French room service could mess this basic one "meal up", but unfortunately it sounded better than it looked and tasted and they did, but we were both so tired to care!! At midnight maybe nearer 1 am we both drifted off to a very deep and solid sleep, but at around 2 am were awoken by a high pitched schrill alarm,the fire alarm!!! I jumped out of bed naked and ran to get clothes on meanwhile shouting at Chris to wake up. We were dressed pretty quickly due to our airline training for emergencies and was running down the fire exit when the night guy(manager?) told us that it was a false alarm. People he explained in his broken English/French had been smoking in their rooom which had set off the alarm. Both of us not really being sympathetic to someone waking us up for a "smoke" drag our arses back to bed. Once back under the sheets and comfortable as we could(because I forgot to say we were infested with ants!!) we heard the alarm go off again and again. By the time our wake up alarm went off, we were both grumpy and exhausted!!Great start to the day, the weather was lousy( much raining over night and heavy down pours, grey sky and forcast for thunderstorms and more rain!!!
After a long delay on the ground we finally took off towards Belem, I hope better weather and a good night sleep!!!.

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.

We are finally sitting by the pool with another day in paradise!!! Woke up early this morning and Chris was already at the computer working, looking at maps and figuring our next pit stop and adventure. He was working out our flight time and estimated fuel requirements for the next leg. He was also downloading pictures and updating his Facebook log. I did not want to disturb his flow of "doing computer stuff", and decided that after taking a brisk walk along the beach at sunset solo last night, it is pretty safe to walk around alone as woman . So instead of going to the gym as planned, I decided to walk up to the top of the hill behind our hotel to get some long needed exercise, explore the local area, and work off the delicious seafood au gratin that we had last night for dinner.
I saw a man walking his goats on ropes like one would do with dogs on a leash, and trees covered in huge cotton wool balls growing out of them as though someone had stuck them on. After walking for about 15 minutes up the hill I was beginning to wonder if I was more unfit than I realized. I was a sweating more than usual and my head was spinning. It was only once I climbed to the top of this huge hill (bigger of course than I figured from the bottom) that I remembered that we are very near the equator and of course its hotter than an oven even at 9.30 am.
On my return to our hotel room Chris was still working hard at his computer, replying to emails, arranging pictures, and contacting the company Air Journey, who have a helped us with getting paperwork such as visas, general declaration forms and informing us about customs and immigration at each leg of our journey. 
I was really proud of Chris today as he gave a great interview for a podcast for AVweb, telling his story about being given a second chance through his liver transplant and stressing the importance of organ donation, how it can save many lives, and how one needs only to tick that box on our driving licence. 
Laid in a lovely hammock and dreamed about a beautiful island with sunshine, amazing beaches,exotic flowers, and palm trees everywhere, hang on a minute that was not a dream I am doing this for real!!!!

I forgot to say check out the pictures,that Chris has posted on his Face book page and on the main page

So we have now really found paradise!!!! Chris and I have been to Grenada many years ago, but for some reason the locals were not much pleased in seeing a mix race couple. This time around it is soo different, everyone has been sweet, kind and helpful. We arrived after spending a short stop in St Maarten where we spent much of the day at the beach watching the planes land and take off on famous runway perched at the end of the beach.We had a long leg of over 4 hours (flying1600 miles in total since leaving the US) in our beloved plane, swooping over the most lush tropical islands I have ever seen in my life. 

As some of you may have gathered by reading Chris Facebook logs our adventure has stalled a little bit, due to complications with our super dooper mega camera system that was especially mounted on the outside of our airplane !! Chris searched for a long time to find a camera system suitable to deliver HD pictures of all our flights on this journey so we could both enjoy the flying without either of us having to hangout the window filming, and also have top quality films to share with our friends, and family after we have completed our trip. But unfortunately this system has some major glitches in which we have had to resolve alone, on the ramp, with a manual, and guy on the phone. 
I am trying to stay positive as the images of hot South American beaches keep running through my mind as we stick our heads under the instrument panel looking at plugs and wires, and I can also almost taste the Caipirinhas(local cocktails) as I gulp down our tepid plane water as we try to decipher the camera system manual. 
But to be quite honest it is not exactly torture staying in North Palm Beach where the temperature is 70 degrees and we can wear shorts, and we still have over a month and half to enjoy the rest of our adventure. 
So I am hoping this is just a little bump in the road which will we work out. I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow:)   

It started nicely with some dear friends coming to say farewell at the Naples Airport. We launched into a blue sky, complete with zoomy takeoff and headed for Fort Lauderdale to get a GPS antenna to power the Ipad GPS programs that will get us there and back. After about 20 minutes, we looked at the still malfunctioning and improperly set video system and noticed that the whole thing had frozen up. Power off, then on, then nothing. Dead. Upon landing, we called for what seemed like the 100th time and found out that we needed a whole new recorder so on we went to North Palm Beach County to meet with Thierry, Guillaume and the team at Air Journey in order to pick up our flight planning stuff that they helped us with. With 11 countries and a very uncertain fuel supply along the way, we needed their expertise to smooth our passage and a 2 hour meeting turned into a further 2 night delay as we waited yet again for the Datatoys delivery from FedEx. It has now come but the settings are of course still wrong but whatever happens, we are off tomorrow come hell or high water.

Chris

It's 5am as we sit here in the La Quinta Inn in Naples, FL. Only a couple of hours to go now before we get going on this trip of a lifetime as the Naples Daily News called it yesterday. The last few weeks have been frantic with much of it spent in the UK. The incision from the transplant has "popped" open or herniated so I had a three day stint in King's College Hospital expecting to have it fixed but the operation was cancelled. Then, it was a week in Nantucket and the holidays and now, a week here in Naples trying to get everything ready.

The airplane has been getting worked on for much of this month and is now in great shape. There wer some calibration issues with the Datatoys video system but we hope those are now sorted out so at 9am, we head for Jupiter, FL to meet with Thierry and the gang at Air Journey who have our permissions, flight plans, and other such documentation. They have also sourced fuel along the way which will be critical as we have only 5 hours of fuel on board to begin with.

The final piece of the puzzle dropped into place yesterday with the arrival of the permission from the Argentine Government to fly out to the Falkland Islands, aka, Islas Malvinas. This has long been a dream of mine and to do it in our own plane was something that I had never even considered until a few weeks ago. Here we go.

Chris