Cartegena to Guyaquil to Lima

W|e enjoyed our dinner in the hotel restaurant in Cartegena, set in the hotel courtyard jungle, complete with a couple of toucans and various other birds. In the a.m. we went on a walking tour around the old city with its 17th-18th century colonial buildings, and later republican/neo-classical styled structures. Many squares, each with its church and statue to a local hero. Immediately behind our hotel is the Cartegena home of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel winning author of Love in the Time of Cholera, set in Cartegena.

The Spanish fortified the city of Cartegena in the late 16th century after Francis Drake successfully attacked and sacked the place. In all, about 11 km. of walls and bastions were built, 8 km. of which remian today. The missing three km. were torn down in the early 20th century on the instigation of a mayor who thought modernization and seaside gardens would be a good idea, what with increasing world traffic with the building of the Panama canal. Panama, of course, broke away, and maybe that saved the rest of the wall. The very substantial old city has been restored, with strict controls on preservation, and is home to a lot of life and business besides the gringo tourist traps. I'd left my Tilley topper (dork hat to the kids) at home, and the combination of thinning ozone and thinning hair was causing some top level sunburn, so I'm now the proud owner of a stylish and authentic Panama hat.

After a very fine breakfast, we headed for the airport and launched around 0930 for the first leg of the flight to Lima, a fuel stop in Guyaquil, Equador. Other than some expressed disappointment from one of the customs employees at our failure to include the Galapagos in our itinerary, the brief visit to Ecuador was enjoyable, and observed by a large iguana hanging around the general aviation terminal. On departure, I think I figured out the story behind our fuel indication issue. The sensors and software on this aircraft are quite sophisticated, and will detect and display a problem with fuel density (i.e. wrong fuel, avgas loaded instead of jet fuel). The aircraft specs require anti-icing additive in the fuel, and in North America the stuff is either pre-blended, or injected by request as the fuel is dispensed. In Central and South America, it is not generally available, so we bring our own in aerosol bottles. The stuff is not highly miscible with kerosene (jet fuel), so it has to be dispensed directly into the fuel, and the fuel should be flowing at about 40-50 gallons/minute for the correct ratio of anti-ice agent to be dispensed and dispersed. The refuelers don't like to fuel our bird that fast, as it sprays back a bit, ergo we get improperly dispersed additive and the fuel probes detect a problem. Now I know, and can take measures to correct. I know you'll all be happy.

After Guyauquil, near Quito, we crossed the equator...

and continued to Lima, about a 2 hour flight. Approach to the big city of Lima is over the water, landing to the south. For those accustomed to landing GA aircraft at Canadian or U.S. airports, the procedure in other countries is a revelation. In Lima, after dealing with the fueling (pre-arranged, or it can be difficult to get), we were led by our handlers (also pre-booked) through the main terminal and similar customs and immigration procedures, plus a bit of paperwork, to what regular airline passengers have to go through. All in all, about an hour between touchdown and check-in at the hotel, which was across the street. The other aircraft arrived about an hour later, and after our complimentary cocktail, a "pisco sour", the national drink, we had supper and retired after a longish day. In the morning we fly by commercial airline to Cusco, where the runway elevation is above our maximum certificated landing altitude (10,700'), and the next day to Machu Picchu by train (the Hiram Bingham, operated by Orient Express).