The Switzerland of South America.
Monday started off with a normal Pilots breakfast, before heading to the Airport in Sal. At the airport, everything went relatively smoothly and we were in the air for our first leg of the day within the hour. The first leg comprised a flight from Sal to Natal, which took us over the Atlantic ocean and took about 4h. During the flight we experienced some turbulences, and had a lot of wind during landing, both of which the pilots mastered gracefully.
At Natal, however, the troubles that would accompany us for the entire day started. Although we were in transit, and never planned on entering Brazil, the border authorities insisted on turning over the plane and screening every piece of luggage that we had. While the content of the plane was technically under Swiss jurisdiction, we complied with the request anyway to save us the trouble. Due to the large number of electronic equipment on us, they wanted us to file a declaration for customs. Again, we complied. However, a system error on their part meant that we had to wait for an officer to physically make their way from town to the airport such that they could sign the necessary documents.
After about 2.5h of sitting around in the blistering heat, and using the plane’s wings as protection from the sun, we were given takeoff clearance and made our way to Sao Paolo. In Sao Paolo, the entire procedure started again. As their system was down, they had no paper record of our flight from Natal. In addition, a small mistake on the customs form in Natal meant that we could not meet their demands and instead had to wait. At 2200, we called off the exercise and decided to spend the night at the Airport hotel in Sao Paolo, as flying out to our original goal in Montevideo did not make sense anymore that evening.
We got a good night’s sleep, and were optimistic that we would be able to solve the problem the next day. Unfortunately, the issue dragged out for another couple of hours this morning. Their demands escalated, to the point where prison was threatened, at which point the pilots promptly started deescalating the situation and constructively looked for a solution. After an additional two hours we were finally able to make our way to Montevideo.
The 2h20 flight to Montevideo was easy, and without any major complications. It was very interesting to see the changing landscape from Brazil to Uruguay; from one dominated by rain forest to one completely composed of farm land and crops. To our delight, the handling and immigration in Uruguay was a breeze and we were out of the airport and on the way to the hotel within 25min of landing.
The first thing we noticed about Montevideo was how clean the city was. As opposed to other countries in South America, the streets were free of trash and the roads were on a very high level. We made our way to the hotel, and grabbed a quick lunch at a restaurant nearby before heading out for the city tour.
The tour began with a drive along the Rambla, a 20km beach road that takes one through the entirety of the city to the old town of Montevideo. There, we got out and admired the presidential palace, the independence square and parts of the old town. After a quick stop at the parliament building, we made our way to market. We made a stop at the largest cathedral in the city, along with the mandatory touristy Montevideo sign. Finally, we capped off the day with a large, and incredibly tasty steak at the Garcia steakhouse.
All in all, we were surprised by the high standard of the city. Everything ran smoothly, and the city exhibited a very laid back vibe and feel. Much of the city was along the beach, where the locals could swim in the brine water solution of the river plate. The locals were very friendly, and the food we had was very good. After the chaos we experienced in Brazil, we were very happy to have everything run smoothly in Montevideo.
Uruguay is a South American country. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay covers an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometers (68,000 sq mi) and has a population of an estimated 3.51 million, of whom 2 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo. The area that became Uruguay was first inhabited by groups of hunter–gatherers 13,000 years ago.
The predominant tribe at the moment of the arrival of Europeans was the Charrúa people, when the Portuguese first established Colónia do Sacramento in 1680; Uruguay was colonized by Europeans late relative to neighboring countries. The Spanish founded Montevideo as a military stronghold in the early 18th century because of the competing claims over the region. Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle between Portugal and Spain, and later Argentina and Brazil. It remained subject to foreign influence and intervention throughout the 19th century, with the military playing a recurring role in domestic politics. A series of economic crises and the political repression against left-wing guerrilla activity in the late 1960s and early 1970s put an end to a democratic period that had begun in the early 20th century, culminating in the 1973 coup d’état, which established a civic-military dictatorship. The military government persecuted leftists, socialists, and political opponents, resulting in several deaths and numerous instances of torture by the military; the military relinquished power to a civilian government in 1985. Uruguay is today a democratic constitutional republic, with a president who serves as both head of state and head of government.
Uruguay is a developing country with a high-income economy, and is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, low perception of corruption, and e-government. It is first in South America when it comes to press freedom, size of the middle class, and prosperity. On a per-capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other country. It is the lowest ranking South American nation in the Global Terrorism Index, and ranks second in the continent on economic freedom, income equality, per-capita income, and inflows of FDI.
Uruguay is the third-best country on the continent in terms of Human Development Index, GDP growth, innovation, and infrastructure. Uruguay is regarded as one of the most socially progressive countries in Latin America. It ranks high on global measures of personal rights, tolerance, and inclusion issues, including its acceptance of the LGBT community. The country has legalized cannabis, same-sex marriage, and abortion. Uruguay is a founding member of the United Nations, OAS, and Mercosur.
Source: Wikipedia.org under https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay
