In 1983 my wife and I were part of a Dorridge Travel group led by the late David Ibbotson making our first visits to South America. Included on the trip was a visit to Puerto Casado in Paraguay, a remote location with a 750mm gauge rail-served quebracho mill. Quebracho provides the tannin used in the treatment of leather, an important industry in Paraguay. There were no scheduled flights to this place, normal access being gained by river transport and thus a private charter had been arranged. It was known that the plane would be a Douglas DC-3 from the Paraguayan Air Force. Tuesday the 8th November was Dakota and Puerto Casado day and there was an airminutes after take-off, the pilot came back and borrowed our map. We had been following the Paraguay River but had by then climbed above the clouds.
