Soar like a bird...
Woohoo! Made it back safe n sound :) Was fantastically brilliant! Very nice and peaceful ´flying´up there...
We had about 1.5hr drive up to the takeoff strip (about 1hr of which was on dirt road)... I was the third (out of 4) to take off... - was getting quite nervous... The car broke down as it was driving Jo and the instructor (the 2nd to take flight) back up to the top of the hill - so that made it worse wondering what had happened to them... And then on take off i get told to run, run run, and then STOP as the wind changed - so was skidding along the ground nearing the edge wondering if we were going to stop in time but it was all good. Soon after that I was able to run straight off the cliff, sit back, relax and enjoy the flight :) it was so peaceful up there - very relaxing and serene :) ... had about 10mins up there just flying around, doing a few little swirlies to catch thermals etc - went really high (up higher than the take off point) (about 450m). Had a nice bum landing as well which was good.
Got a bit bitten up on the mountain where we were waiting by some little yellow bug things that sucked your blood - hmmm lovely!
Oh - update on the chocolate stakes - after much taste-testing I have unanimously decided so far in South America Argentina beats Chile which is way better than Bolivia... (altho in Bolivia when i ordered a hot choc - they gave me a chunk of chocolate and poured on hot milk to melt it - tasty!)
Hmm what else - I have had 3 losses so far - my hat (yes my little sun bonnet - it is a sad loss - esp considering they dont seem to have hats round here), a pair of socks and a lock on my backpack... Averaging nearly one a week - not good!
And I think that is about all the news for now :)
Take care,
Em
Bolivan lady
Preparing for take off
Take off
Flying
The landing
The paragliding troop - Mike, Me, Jo, Christian (instructor) and Sarah