After simmering down a bit over dinner following the unbelievable bureacracy trap of the day, Bill, Mark and I decided to take a ride on Saturday up to Campos do Jardao and check out what things were like at the higher elevations of the State of Sao Paulo. The ride was at least an hour and a half but well worth doing.
Campos do Jordão has a population around 50,000 but surges to four times that during their Winter vacation time (July). The city is 5,000 feet above sea level and has an economy based primarity on tourism. It reminded me of Telluride, Colorado and of European ski villages. The architecture was a mix of German, Swiss and Italian. I wish I could have been there during their winter (our summer) and attended their classical music festival. There were many nice restaurants, bars and shops. We also visited a state park called Horto Florestal. I don’t know much about horticulture but we saw some trees that I have never seen before. See pictures.
At dinner we decided that Day 7 (Sunday) would be a day to wind the rest of the way down, catch up on some writing and emails, upload some pictures, recharge batteries, and get ready for the (hopefully) final day in Brazil. I learned a lot about aviation from Bill and Mark. Their company, JetQuik, is young but the two of them have 50+ years of experience in the industry.  On Monday I would get an education about aviation fuel!  Stay tuned.