On the last Sunday in March at 1 p.m. sharp, Bill Savidge and his friend Dean Stahr landed their small Cessna TR182 at the Napa County Airport, capping off a seven-week whirlwind tour of the Southern Hemisphere.

More than 60 of their closest friends were there to greet them, as was a three-piece band. But the celebration was nothing compared to the stories the duo — 160 years old between the two of them — brought back to the Napa Valley with them.

After leaving in January, the pilots made a total of 29 stops on their journey, including in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Trinidad, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas — and the Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville — before returning to Napa.

Their friends back home were kept apprised of their travels thanks to frequent e-mails from their Arizona-based virtual co-pilot, Dwight Small, as well as an occasional travelogue from Savidge himself.

Aside from a strangely polite robbery — more about that later — the duo managed to avoid the numerous worst-case scenarios that two AARP-eligible American pilots could find themselves in on and above unfamiliar terrain. They did not encounter $20-per-gallon gas, catastrophic mechanical failures, time-consuming weather delays or violent abductions.

They even managed to stave off cabin fever, which easily could have been a consequence of the plane's cramped quarters. To prevent tensions from boiling over, Savidge and Stahr spent each night in separate hotel rooms, provided that the accommodations were reasonably priced.

Street eats and a robbery

"I don't think being in the cramped airplane really bothered either of us," Savidge said. "We were too busy flying the airplane, doing the GPS, and looking out the window. I might have snapped at Dean a couple times when I shouldn't have, but in general we had a great time."

The two friends would enjoy a dinner together each night, splitting a bottle of good, inexpensive wine in true Napa Valley style.

Savidge was particularly fearless in his culinary pursuits, purchasing shrimp from a beach vendor in Recife, Brazil, accidentally dropping it on the sidewalk, brushing it off, and bolting it down without any ill effects.

"I took a Cipro (antibiotic) afterwards just as a preventative measure," Savidge recalled with a smile.

Savidge's intestinal fortitude was also challenged in Salvador, Brazil, where he was walking alone on an isolated beach path when he was approached by two young men, one of whom was pointedly carrying a coconut-sized rock.

Without a word, the men fished through Savidge's swimming trunks, relieving him of his watch, his hotel key, about five dollars in local currency, a key to his safe deposit box and a photocopy of his passport.

As the two men were leaving, one of them handed Savidge back the key to his safe deposit box. Not particularly frightened, and forgetting how to say "thank you" in Portuguese, Savidge told the departing robbers "gracias" — the only word spoken during the encounter.

Salvador was historically a port for slave traders, and Savidge said he felt sorry for the people there, many of whom were living in impoverished slums.

"That was just my little contribution to their economy," Savidge said of his run-in with the gentleman robbers.

Though neither aviator is fluent in Spanish, they were able to find English-speaking tower operators at all the stops except Viedma, Argentina. There, the handler who helped plan their trip quickly arranged for a bilingual controller to assist with the 800-mile flight from Rio Gallegos.

Like most of the people they encountered — with the exception of the two robbers in Salvador — the handlers were friendly and helpful. When Savidge forgot his heart pills and lost his prescription, a young Costa Rican tour guide spent four hours helping him sort out the situation, making several phone calls and faxes to the U.S. and even accompanying Savidge to a local pharmacy to interpret.

Both Savidge and Stahr are experienced pilots, and Stahr handled most of the take-offs and landings while Savidge did most of the flying. Even when he could have used autopilot, Savidge would fly the plane by hand just to enjoy the feel of a stable aircraft. Once the plane was trimmed, Savidge said he could often take his hands off the wheel and rudder pedals, and the plane would continue flying straight and level, allowing him to sit back and enjoy the views of windswept coastlines and towering mountaintops.

"It's hard to describe the variety of landscapes," said Savidge, who returned with nine rolls of pictures. "You'd see colors — red from iron oxide on a hillside — you'd see a glacier poking its nose out, rivers and little tiny villages."

Other than the ravishing views, most of the flights were uneventful — at least until last Friday, when the duo left Albuquerque for the Nut Tree. Though Savidge downplayed the incident, an iced-over sensor took out their airspeed indicator while they flew through unexpectedly thick clouds over mountainous terrain.

"Getting into that ice was the greatest chance we took," he said. "I don't know about Dean, but I probably wouldn't do that again."

Out of all the exotic places he visited, Savidge said h15-23-37-48-53e wouldn't trade a single one for his beloved St. Helena, not even Viedma, a peaceful well-manicured Argentinean river town where the hamburgers come with a fried egg on top of the patty.

Now that he's safely back in St. Helena, would he take the trip again?

Savidge laughed. "In a minute," he said.