Leg 27 - Quito, Ecuadro (SEQM Mariscal Sucre International) to Tegucigalpa, Honduras (MHTG Toncontin International)
This leg: 1,403Nm, 5:34
Total so far: 27,473Nm, 106:07 flying time
So today we are on a trip North from South America into Central America. Starting from Quito in Ecuador, we are flying up to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. On the way, we are doing some zig-zagging.
Here’s our itinerary:
- Quito, Ecuador (Mariscal Sucre International, SEQM)
- The Rock of Guatape, near Rionegro, Colombia
- Panama City, Panama
- Rio Hato, Panama (Cap Scarlett R Martinez International, MPSM)
- David Sur, Panama (Enrique Malek International, MPDA)
- Corcovado National Park, Cost Rica (Sirena Station, MRSN)
- San Jose, Costa Rica (Juan Santamaria International, MROC)
- Liberia, Cost Rica (Daniel Oduber Quiros International, MRLB)
- Managua, Nicaragua (Augusto C Sandino International, MNMG)
- Tegucigalpa, Honduras (Toncontin International, MHTG)
I’m thinking we should have a little touch and go at Sirena Station on the way. Seemingly it’s an interesting grass strip, so should be fun in the TBM!
Well, we are going to need plenty of sustenance today - this is a 1460Nm trip after all - suspect we might need to refuel on the way. So today we are going a bit up market on the snacks front and going for the Ecuadorian delicacy of Aguacate Relleno con Camarones, which (for those not too hot on their Spanish) is ripe avocado filled with shrimp, red onion, radish, bell pepper, celery and cilantro aioli.
Yummy. Probably. If you like shrimp.
Anyway…back to the plot. A longish first leg to the Rock of Guatape - about 400Nm, right over Ecuador and into Colombia.
Early morning start - it’s going to be a long day. Dawn in Quito is just before 6.00am local time, so we’ll get going about 6.15am or so and see how the day takes us. Hoping for some decent weather, although it is November…
OK, so not ideal weather first thing this morning, but we’ll persevere. It’s not actually raining.
Once we get going though, we quickly climb up through the clouds and have some spectacular views already
Above the clouds now, we can see the amazing hills and rainforests of Ecuador below us
Love the way the mountains are up above the clouds here
Over there to our left, under all those clouds, is the Pacific Ocean
Some awesome clouds and mountains here, up at 11,000ft
And now we are approaching the The Rock of Guatape. What an amazing place, and incredible the way the clouds seem to part around it framing it perfectly against the lush backdrop
What a great find, and now we climb up and away, heading North once more towards Panama
Delving back into the thick cloud now, this is what it looks like from the cockpit when the lightning flashes in the cloud that ATC is directing us through!
Some amazing cloud formations as we head towards the coast and into the foothills in Northern Colombia
Still very cloudy as we head into Panama although some signs that the cloud might be starting to break up
To be continued…