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Published: December 26th 2006
Zicatela beach
Crazy hands statue on the beachMy last day in Puerto Escondido didn't start particularly well. Having partied fairly hard the night before I got up at 6-15am to make a 7-00am appointment with a fisherman. The appointment was made and we headed out to do some sport fishing. It was indeed a beautiful morning and the waves off Playa Zicatela - the "Mexican Pipeline" - looked spectacular in the early morning light, the back spray off the crests catching the low early morning light. We had two lines set and we trawled up and down the length of Zicatela before heading out to La Punta. We made a couple of passes at La Punta, a gathering of pelicans ruling the roost on a rocky outcrop marking La Punta, the point marking the end of Zicatela and the next bay. Still no joy, we turned away from the coast for deeper waters. Turtles occasionally bobbed up and egrets cruised by and the trailing lines remained stubbornly undisturbed. We passed other boats and empty shrugs were exchanged - it seemed were not alone. Eventually after and change of bait and circling some of the deeper fishing boats we headed back to the coast and the trip had clearly
Pushing off
All set to do some sport fishing, though clearly no boat drinks become a sightseeing trip. In two long/short hours my fisherman concluded that I had "malo suerte" - bad luck.
After two hours we had come closer to catching shell than fish! The fisherman knocked $10 off the price, but I was not molified. What kind of spin I could put on it back at the hostel? I needed cheering up! Having not caught any fish, why not catch some air? A skydiving outfit was in town and I had always wanted to jump. After breakfast I tracked them down and booked a tandem jump for 3pm.
Flash forward and we're skirting the boundary of the runway the cameraman walking backwards drawing me on my preflight/prejump feelings. I'm about as excited about the jump as anything I've done since my bungy jump in 1999. We board the plane and we're quickly into a corkscrew climb to 14,000 feet. Strapped to the front of my Nick my tandem buddy we make a four feet shuffle to the EXIT. No nerves - honest! - we pile out of the plane and boy what a rush. Wind whipping past you, Puerto laid out below you, I'm whooping out of shear delight! The
Pelicans
Pelicans holding La Punta now airbourne cameraman now swoops in to greet us and we shake hands and he fires off a few shots. Down below I've spotted the sand eddies off Mexican Pipeline and just how big the Mexican flag looks in the town centre parade ground. Nick prompts me that the first part of the show is over and instructs me to grab some harness. He pulls the rip-cord and the brakes have well and truly been put on! Not used to being driven in a parachute - unlike my solo paragliding - it was a tad queasy. However Nick did let me take the reins for a bit which was quite fun. Soon enough it was legs forward and brace for a soft, but not entirely elegant beach landing. The jump had been all I had hoped for and no less fun than I had expected!
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Mum/Laurie
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Just glad I didn't know about this escapade until there were photos of you grinning from ear to ear on terra firma after your flight. Reminds me of Tracey's sponsored jump many moons ago, a little!