Tucurui to Amapa FS2002

**mjanicki** · 05-16-2009, 01:56 AM

I finally freed up a bit of time to get another flight in. Today we depart Tucurui, Brazil (SBTU) headed to our last stop in Brazil at Amapa (SBAM).

It's a hot morning with light winds but SBAM is forecasting heavier winds and possible thunderstorms and showers. I don't think the thunderstorms and rain will show up until tomorrow though. Still, the sky is mostly covered so I have a feeling I'll need to climb up to 6500 or 8500 to stay clear for today's 4-hour flight.

As I expected. I had to head for 8500 ft to get just above the cloud layer. Conditions are good up here, but I lose a good bit of sight-seeing.

Still, every so often, I'm treated to a look at any number of the many tributaries of the Amazon through an opening in the clouds.

Further North I eventually come upon the area around Macapa, Brazil. The size of the river here say, yep, this is pretty much the source of the Amazon.

Eventually the clouds thin out a bit and although I still have a long way to go to reach Amapa, I can descend a bit for the rest of the flight while taking one last look at the impressive waterways.

There is not much along the way to Amapa so I just settle in for the remainder of the flight and take out the camera one last time while on final for 07. Winds have picked up and there's a 12-knot wind here at Amapa, but it's straight down the runway so doesn't present any problems.

Now to spend a day in Amapa and see if those thunderstorms come in or not. With a bit of luck I'll be on my way soon, heading through Guyane to Suriname.

Thanks for viewing.

-- Mike