THE BRAZIL2

The Waters of Brazil “BRASIL DAS ÁGUAS” Aviator Gérard Moss who, in 2001, successfully completed the first flight around the world by motor-glider ( Wings of Wind ), has finished another innovative expedtion. Aboard a Lake Renegade amphibian aircraft named Talha-mar (Skimmer), he has carried out a unique survey of the water quality ... Parana River Basin We took off from Rio de Janeiro on 2nd October 2003 for the first of 12 flying campaigns throughout Brazil collecting water samples for the Brasil das Águas project. This first stage took us primarily to rivers and lakes of Parana river basin, an immense river which represents 14% of ... The Midwest (Mato Grosso) The second Brasil das Águas campaign was carried out in the Midwest. We found rivers suffering from serious silting problems, transformed over the years from crystalline waters into rivers of sand. But we also found rivers with transparent blue waters, such as the Juruena, and visited the Rio Cristalino near ... Mato Grosso do Sul and Pantanal With the Lake Renegade in the workshop to be fixed after the accident, the collection of water samples continued in an ultra-light aircraft, a Max Anfíbio manufactured in Rio de Janeiro. Due to the limited space available on board, it was necessary to have a back-up vehicle chasing along behind, bringing ... Southern Brazil (inland) The collection of samples in Southern Brazil was divided into two stages. The first, completed in January, covered the central and western parts of the states of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Once again, the ultra-light was used, with a back-up vehicle (Land Rover) following. The Iguaçu Falls Heading ... Southern Brazil (coast) The second part of the campaign in Southern Brazil was quite different from the others. With the exception of the flight over the Serra Gaúcha, we were accompanying the coast for the first time during the project. When in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, looking out ... Rondonia and Southern Amazonas Meeting the (clean) waters of the Amazon basin It’s hard to believe, but we have already flown over 50,000 km (a further distance than the circumference of the world at the equator) and all this just within Brazil. We still have about the same distance to cover. We took off on the ... Tocantins River Basin and the Northeast Fresh and salt water beaches aplenty: Up the Tocantins to the Northeast. Tough was getting out of Rio de Janeiro: a cold front had occupied the city for four long days and seemed determined to delay our trip. Gérard managed to take advantage of a window very early one morning, flying in ... Pará and Amapá Journey to the Beginning of Brazil In August, our objective was to reach Oiapoque, way up on the northern border, but right at the outset, we made a slight deviation to a farm near the town of Mineiros (GO) to visit the source of the Araguaia River. In a desolate landscape of ... Acre and Western Amazonas Brazil´s Far(thest)West Already a year has passed since the Brasil das Águas project first set off to collect water samples in the Paraná River basin. Since then, we have flown 107,000 km – considerably further than flying twice around the world – and all this without ever leaving the country. At the end ...