Live from the 12th Annual Brazil Gem Show

Here we are in Minas Geraís, in the city of Governador Valadares for the 12^th annual Brazil Gem Show, the largest gem show in all of Latin America. My trip, sponsored by IBGM, Istituto Brasileiro de Gemas E Metais Preciosos (Brazilian Gems & Jewellery Trade Association) started Monday morning, arriving here in G.V. last night at 6 p.m.

Included in our welcome package at the GV Center Hotel is a booklet showing the floor plan of the event and listing just over 100 exhibiting suppliers and gem dealers. A small number of names stand out recognized from past JCK Shows and Tucson Gem & Minerals Shows like Manoel Bernardes, Pinkstones, Ben Sabbagh Bros., and Vianna Joias, but there are still over a hundred more unfamiliar names with gems that I am anxious to see and photograph over the next three days.

Arrival pictures ….

Here’s part of our tired IBGM sponsored travelers arriving in Belo Horizonte, the capital city of Minas Geraís. Here we took a lunch break at Baby Beef, a churrascaria where they bring different grilled meets to your table and carve a fresh slice off the skewer just for you to taste. Then it was back to another airport to catch the turbo-prop flight to Governador Valadares.

By then it was 4 in the afternoon and because it is winter here (and only 75 degrees F…) the sun was setting. The airport was tiny, which was not at all representative of the size of the large and bustling city of GV.

In our welcome package at the GV Center Hotel were several show related cards and booklets, along with a 50ml bottle of Cachaca – which of course we will have to try here, as it will not go through airport security in Sao Paulo on the return.

Since we arrived at the hotel after dark, I didn’t get any sense of the cityscape until I looked off the balcony this morning. GV is a fairly good sized city, and even at 6:30 this morning was already busy with traffic (of course, not seen in this picture - Murphy’s law.)

One of the things about GV that I learned prior to arriving is that the large 3,000 foot outcrop called Pico da Ibituruna (seen off to the right of my hotel room balcony) is the local platform for free flight paragliders. Check this out .

The weather is quite overcast this week, so I doubt if we will see any paragliding while we’re here. Oh - and Winter here? It will be 80 degrees F and about 80% humidity today. I’d hate to find out what Summer is like here.

That’s all for now. Check back tomorrow, same time, as we will be covering the 12^th Annual Brazil Gem Show LIVE from Governador Valadares, Minas Geraís, Brazil.