Outward Journey

Finally arrived! I left home on Thursday February 28^th. and after 33 hours of travelling at midnight Spanish time I made it.

The first leg of the journey was novel in its own way. The flight from Málaga to Lisbon was in a Beechcraft 1009D, a small propeller plane with a seating capacity for 18 passengers, plus the pilot, a young woman, and the co-pilot – no air hostesses. It was very nice to travel in a plane of human dimensions and not the usual over-sized sardine tins. I think these planes were originally designed as executive planes. We left our hand luggage, except handbags, at the foot of the stairs and it was all stowed in the hold to be picked up again as we came down in Lisbon. There were 15 passengers on the flight, mostly headed towards Brazil, but a few were going to Cabo Verde or the Azores.

The overnight flight to Sao Paulo was smooth but full so no chance of finding a space to stretch your legs. I had not flown with TAP, the Portuguese airline, before and I must say the experience was positive. We left Lisbon a little late and arrived late mostly because there were strong head winds of around 200km/hour most of the way. Fortunately transit passengers were met at the gate and taken through without having to go through more security controls so that was a good piece of news, particularly after a long flight.

The flight to Sta. Cruz was also full and I was wondering what all these people from Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Israel and who know where else were coming to do in Bolivia. Arrival in Santa Cruz as port of entry always means the same things: filling in forms repeating the same information and long queues for immigration and then customs. However, the dour faces of the officials are quickly dispelled by the friendliness of the people working in the airport. So far that has not changed, and the girls I the coffee shop are just as helpful and smiling as the Cruceños have always been and the fruit juices are just as delicious too.

The short hop from Santa Cruz to Cochabamba was uneventful.