Wednesday-Thursday 20-21st August - On our way home.

We had requested a visit to the cathedral, if possible, so the minibus to the airport was brought forward to 8.00am with 10 minutes to take a few pictures. We met up for  breakfast at 7.00 finished the last bit of packing, loaded up the mini bus and set off. It was quite busy but we were soon there. We spent around ten minutes looking round, taking a few pictures and then walked closer. There was a mass going on and the singing was really lovely. Then it was time to time to go. The taxi driver had gone round the square and was waiting for us. The drive out wasn’t too bad and we were soon at the airport.

Arriving at the airport, we took a few pictures, watched a Rufous Hornero feeding young and took a last look.

Check in was easy and we went through security and passport control, being directed to the special needs queue, then waited for our flight. As we had quite a bit of time we had a drink and a slice of chocolate cake, which was delicious. 

We managed to do a bit of shopping where I bought a bracelet and then it was time to board our flight to São Paulo. It was a three hour flight with a packet of crisps and a biscuit, before landing in São Paulo. We had an eight hour wait in São Paulo, but we did have to collect our luggage from the domestic terminal, walk through to terminal 3, F and check back in. We managed to do self-labelling but we were too early to check the luggage in. Linda’s label wouldn’t print so they went through and got their luggage checked in, but we were told to come back at six. Once that was done, we decided to go through security, again being sent to special needs, and then find somewhere to eat. We found a place that looked ok. I ordered pork in tortillas, which was very nice, and then David and I sat down to sort out the lists, while the others went shopping. Sarah came back with a lovely capybara t-shirt, so I went to the shop and looked around, luckily there was one in my size but I also liked a green, leafy top and a parrot capped-sleeved t-shirt.

I had just packed up my bag ready when David came running back to say the board was  saying last call, so we grabbed everything and started running for the gate, when two of the other travellers shouted that we had left David’s phone and charger, which we grabbed, and then hurried round. When we got there the sign just switched to boarding now and they hadn’t even begun queueing. As the queues started, we were all in different lines. We were line 5 but we hadn’t been there long before someone came along checked our tickets and sent us forward to the special needs queue, a reoccurring theme with the journey. We went onto the plane, found our seats and  settled down for the 11 hour flight back.

I managed to sleep most of the way. We were served two meals, dinner was pasta and breakfast was an omelette with an onion and potato patty and two cooked tomatoes. I had a cup of tea which had a distinct minty flavour and then we were nearly home.

After landing and collecting our luggage, we said our goodbyes to the others and went out to collect the car. We had a number to ring to say we were there, and when they answered, they said they had a problem and couldn’t get the car started. We stood at the collection point, were collected by a mini bus and taken to the Holiday Inn car park where we had left the car, to find it under a tree with bonnet up. The battery seemed fine, it just wouldn’t spark so we filled in an AA form, got a response that someone would be with us in about 40 minutes. 

The van turned up about 40 minutes later with a mechanic called Naveed who attached his battery charger, ascertained the battery was ok, walked round to the other side and started pumping a small rubber bulb. After a minute or two he suggested starting the engine, which it did after a short wait. The Man at the Car Park couldn’t believe he’d got it started. “That’s because I’m a qualified mechanic, Bruvver” was the response. After about 3 minutes, the engine just stopped. A little more pumping and the car started again and this time it kept going. We were soon on our way home. We stopped for a drink and a Mac before making it home a little later than expected.