RUSH AROUND THE WORLD

Flying around the world in a single engine plane itself is impressive, of course. But also are some numbers of the trip:

Kilometers flown: ………………. 60.000
Photos taken: …………………… 30.496
Internet connections: ……………..1392
Flight hours: ………………………….140
Satellite phone calls: …………………82
Days of traveling: …………………….60
Landings: ………………………………39

I had a great experience joining some wealthy guys on their RTW trip and am very happy that I came back with a nice portfolio of an extraordinary adventure.
Never before I have traveled that much! And I can tell you, traveling in a private plane is really the perfect way to travel! Especially when it is not yours and you are invited!

Help me to get one, too! Buy some shirts here!

Thanks for following the trip, guys! Hope you enjoyed the photos and the little text I wrote on the way. I had a great time to join the friends around the world.

Find the photos on flickr here.

We had our longest flight day of the whole trip the day we left Natal for Cape Verde. Smooth flight as usual, we had to avoid some bad weather, but nothing serious. The longing for finally going home to Mallorca grew when we landed safe on the island of Sal, Cape Verde - and we decided neither to go to Madeira nor to Tenerife, but to Marrakech.After refueling and some waiting for paperwork we continued flying and touched ground 5 hours later in Moroco. Close to twelve hours of flying! Breakfast in Brazil, Dinner in Marrakech! What a rush! We went to hotel, checked in and took a cab to the market where we grabbed some food on one of the last booths open. It was great to be there! Of course we checked out Pacha afterwards, but it was dead.

So what was better than going to bed and fly next morning straight to Palma?So we did! After breakfast, again on Marrakech’s market, and with excellent tea and coffee, we headed for the airport and left for Ibiza. Why Ibiza? Because of immigration, it is an international airport with customs. From Ibiza it was another 35 min flight to Son Bonet airport, Palma, where this nice journey found it’s end! We all were very glad to be back home - what a good experience!

From now on things happen quickly. We left beautiful Rio de Janeiro in the morning and arrived late afternoon (-1h time difference) in Natal, close to Equator. Not the best place to be. But we do not want to stay long: Before sunset we will be airborne again and will cross the Atlantic Ocean in estimated 6 hours and 20 minutes flight time to Cape Verde. Weather is on our side and we hope all will go as planned. After Cape Verde we will fly either Madeira or Tenerife, stay over night and fly next day to Palma.

Rio is an amazing city which is located between beautiful rainforest covered hills. Flying over, you just love it. Once you are in, that changes a little bit, because you see a lot of armed guards and you know what that means. Walking around with valuable things like me with my pro camera is not without risk, so you better don’t do it. it’s a pity that we did not stay longer here, I really like the place, but you definitely have to get used to it. Unfortunately we missed the Carnival, but maybe that was not so bad, because the city is overcrowded with people anyhow. But I know that I will come back here and have a closer look and for better pictures!

Well, I am happy that we made it up to the Corvocado to enjoy some nice views, and that we took a guided tour through some Favelas.

After our short stay we left Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. It was an amazing flight along the brazilian atlantic coast, but the best was the approach to Rio. To see the green rainforest covered hills and the raising buildings along the broad beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana was just awesome. We were lucky that we had good weather and after check-in at our Hotel at Ipanema, we took immediately a walk along those two world famous beaches.

For some business reasons we made a quick stop in Sao Paulo.

Florianopolis is an island belonging to the state of Santa Catarina, south Brazil. You come here and immediately feel good. Climate is perfekt right now, you have a lot of party and beach life all around.

Brazilians really know how to party, they dress up very beautiful and love the easy way of life.We spent three days in Santa Catarina, two at Florianopolis beaches and one day I went to see a friends place more south, at Praia do Rosa.

Wow, when you see how he lives there you really start thinking about if there is a better place to be in the world. And I have seen some nice places in the last months…

I definitely decided to go back someday to Brazil and spend some time there as it is so nice! Also, for us from Europe, our strong currency makes living a lot cheaper there. What else do I have to say. Just look at the pictures and enjoy this beauty!