Monday, September 7, 1970

Today is Brazil’s Independence Day. By 4:00 we were all awake and readying for our trip to Paulo Afonso. About 5:30 we arrived at the farm of Virginia’s parents, located near Atalaia, where we left Adriano and Inez, and we left by 6:00. The sunrise over the Alagoas farmlands was a sight beautiful to behold. Patches of fog hovered over the greenery. About 7:00 we stopped for a guaraná break in Palmeira dos Indios. From this point on the road was dirt as it stretched out across the dusty and drier sertão. We stopped occasionally for pictures or gas until we reached Paulo Afonso shortly after 10:00.

While Aldo and Virginia waited on top of a bridge, we descended 334 steps down to the São Francisco River and took some good pictures. The climb back up was bad news in the hot desert sun. I promised Elder Blackham I would never complain again about the little hike up the hill to Aldo’s place. Finally we drove across the bridge into the state of Bahia. The town is on the Bahia side of the river. We ate a nice noon meal in a clean restaurant that offered all a person could eat for Cr$5,00.

From 1:00 to 5:00 the six of us had our own personal guide for free. He gave us a really sharp tour. The falls, of which there are two parts, were every bit as impressive as Niagara when I was there. In a cable car we crossed over the top of one part of the falls. Words cannot justly describe the experience. Just nature’s part of the show was worth our trip, but almost equally impressive was the gigantic power complex being developed there. Four new turbines are being built, which will produce more power than the present nine already operating. Eighty-meter deep wells, one of which we went to the bottom of, give the water the necessary force to generate the power. Paulo Afonso provides electricity for the entire Nordeste.

We also visited a farm owned by the same company (CHESF or Companhia Hidro Electrico do São Francisco, 51 percent of which is government owned, 49 percent private industry) that was quite interesting. I took one and a half rolls of film (a lot for me). Elder Blackham took 64 slides during the day.

About 5:30 we headed for home. Soon it was dark, and we had a few close calls on the return trip, but we reached the fazenda safely by about 10:00. Dead tired, we reached Maceió at 11:00. Wow! What a trip!