On the plane and to the dock – July 19, 2006
On Wednesday, July 19, 2006, Phil, Grant, Grant’s friend Will Proctor and I flew to Miami to begin our trip to the boat. We flew from Miami to Fortaleza on Tam Airlines. It was one of those all-night flights that many of you are familiar with and even though Phil and I were in business class, I don’t think we slept any more than Grant and Will did in coach. We had to stop twice but never got off the plane. We are all used to everyone getting off the plane on the first stop in the States but here we stayed on the plane until we reached our final destination. We first went through immigration where we were finger-printed (both index fingers) and photographed. We are not used to that process but if you are a foreigner, you have to do it. The crew told me that they had to do that when entering the U.S. since they are foreigners from the U.S. point of view. Going through customs was very easy—just push your luggage through the door. Then into a taxi and to the boat!