October 9-15; On the Rio Teles Pires, Mato Grosso, Brazil --
We flew from Sao Paulo to Alta Floresta via commercial airline ["TRIP"], having taken the excellent intercity bus from Ribeirao Preto, arriving in late morning the 9th. We were met by our favorite "shade tree" aircraft mechanic Tony Rossini, a pilot friend of his and the local agent for the fishing resort at which we would be staying for the next six days. We were driven in a decrepit old reconstituted school bus to a small dirt runway airport where we boarded a Cessna 182 for the thirty-minute flight to yet another dirt runway carved out of the jungle next to the Teles Pires river. A short ride down an bumpy, muddy road in an ancient Land Rover brought us to a jewel of a resort on the banks of the river.
Our cabin (Chalet #3, one of about two dozen aligned perpendicular to the walkway in either direction) was at the end of a 150-foot long covered walkway which had a native palm leaf thatched roof -- which did a pretty good job of keeping most of the rain off the clients. Our cabin had four twin beds, of which Uncle Bob and I chose the two furthest from each other [a sharp contrast to the way we shared a double bed when we were kids growing up!].
The cabin included a bathroom (shower, lavatory and flush-type commode -- with a seat!) and air-conditioner. If my back hadn't hurt so bad, I could have really reveled in this kind of "hardship"!
The main entrance comprised a large thatch-roofed building containing a dining hall and a large industrial-type kitchen with adjoining rooms for supplies. The dining room was furnished with a large screen TV, a Windows-XP desk computer and a couple soft couches for the "potatoes" to lounge in while watching soccer and "ultimate boxing". A kitchen staff of two or three provided three nourishing (generally too salty for me) meals a day, at 0530, 1230 and 1900. Two table servers were present at each of the meals that Bob and I ate there. At times when other clients were present there may have been one or two more servers. At any rate we were never left waiting or wanting for more of this or that!
What a life! But let's go to the next post to hear about the fishing.
Our cabin (Chalet #3, one of about two dozen aligned perpendicular to the walkway in either direction) was at the end of a 150-foot long covered walkway which had a native palm leaf thatched roof -- which did a pretty good job of keeping most of the rain off the clients. Our cabin had four twin beds, of which Uncle Bob and I chose the two furthest from each other [a sharp contrast to the way we shared a double bed when we were kids growing up!].
The cabin included a bathroom (shower, lavatory and flush-type commode -- with a seat!) and air-conditioner. If my back hadn't hurt so bad, I could have really reveled in this kind of "hardship"!
The main entrance comprised a large thatch-roofed building containing a dining hall and a large industrial-type kitchen with adjoining rooms for supplies. The dining room was furnished with a large screen TV, a Windows-XP desk computer and a couple soft couches for the "potatoes" to lounge in while watching soccer and "ultimate boxing". A kitchen staff of two or three provided three nourishing (generally too salty for me) meals a day, at 0530, 1230 and 1900. Two table servers were present at each of the meals that Bob and I ate there. At times when other clients were present there may have been one or two more servers. At any rate we were never left waiting or wanting for more of this or that!What a life! But let's go to the next post to hear about the fishing.
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