Day 9: August 19, 2014

After a somewhat rough night in our hotel, I did not have much sleep going into today.  There were a lot of bugs in the hotel we stayed in the last night, so it was very difficult to go to bed.  Waking up early in the morning, we high tailed it out the hotel and straight to our next company visit, RENUKA Sugars.  RENUKA was actually the company I was assigned to research during the portion of class we spent in Pittsburgh, so I knew a fair amount of information going in.  RENUKA Sugars is a large sugar refinery in Brazil, producing refined sugar, raw sugar and ethanol.  In addition to these three major products, RENUKA also produces electricity by burning a byproduct of the sugar refining process called bugasse, a waste from the sugar cane.  Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos of their facility from the inside and were limited to a view from outside.  It was a breathtaking facility and a marvel of modern engineering.

A far away shot of the sugar refining facility

Water cooler at the sugar refinery

Quick selfie before the sugar refining process presentation

Snapshot of the presentation

After touring the sugar refinery, we embarked on another long 7 hour journey, this time to Foz de Iguassu.  Foz de Iguassu is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.