The Adventure Continues (Yep, here we go again)

By Mike Danna
Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Public Relations Director

One of the benefits of traveling with the AgLeadership Development program is that you’re likely to see things others can only read about or see on TV. 

Classes 9 and 10 stood on the Great Wall of China. Previous classes have trekked across Vietnam, Europe and South America. Saturday we visited the Christ the Redeemer Statue, atop Corcovada Mountain in Rio. The statue is considered by the Brazilians to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And while that might be open to interpretation, the statue is nothing short of spectacular.

Many of you have said you wanted to see more photos, so I’m going to do my best to upload as many as possible tonight. So I won’t keep you. However, I do want to give you a brief overview of the day’s events.

We took a train to the top of Corcovada Mountain, a train similar to that little train you take to Lookout Mountain in Tennessee. The Redeemer rail line was built in the mid-1800s and, with that fact in mind, there were a few tense moments as the little train chugged its way up the two-mile stretch of rail.

But those tense moments paled in comparison to the shock we had during the cable car ride to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain earlier in the day. Yes, that’s right, another major incident on a trip that so far has topped the list of “incident-heavy” AgLeadership tours.

The plan Saturday was to visit the Redeemer Statue first, have lunch, then visit Sugarloaf. But the bus was delayed due mechanical problems, (yes, another bus-related issue) so we reversed the schedule. 

To reach the top of Sugarloaf, you have to take two cable cars, one to the mid-point and another to the top. Since the cars weren’t big enough to accommodate the entire class, we split into two groups. The first group headed up the mountain as the other half waited for the other car to come down the mountain. (The cars are linked together on either side of a single cable. That’s why when you ride these things the car going up the mountain always passes the car coming down the mountain at the halfway point. Kind of like a ski lift.)

But just as our car was about to reach the bottom to pick us up, it violently screeched to a halt just 20 feet from the station. The cable car swung up wildly, throwing its three passengers, a man and woman and their small son, around the car and slamming them to the floor. We saw the little boy slam into the side window so hard many of us watching just knew he was seriously injured.

Fortunately the three were OK, but for the next 10 minutes our car was just 20 feet from where it was to have picked us up. However, the car containing Errol Domingues, Chad LeBlanc, Stuart Gardner and about 10 other members of our group hung high above the mountain, again just 20 feet from the landing point, only they were over the vast ravine below. 

Seems the system lost electrical power and we were told later by our guide that the last such event happened in 2003. Errol’s car didn’t swing so violently because it was full of passengers. However, once they reached the top, Errol and the others had some choice words about the Brazilian power company.

So let’s recap; bus stuck in the mud, drunken bus driver and a stranded cable car. I don’t want to say this group is snake-bit, but that faint hissing sound tells me otherwise. 

Until next time…