There was only one possible stop between Paramaribo and Fortaleza, a jungle-surrounded, smaller field at Para. Since all went well, the Electra passed over. The aviators crossed the equator for the first time. After ten hours of flying Earhart and Noonan landed at Fortaleza. The city sits on a brown sandy plain in the arc of a crescent shaped indentation between the mountains and the sea, just west of Cape Mucuripe. The condition of the airport was fine. Amelia and Fred made final preparations for the South Atlantic hop at Fortaleza rather than Natal as they had intended. They laid over for a day to get everything ship shape with the plane.
