Advertisement
So the original plan was for us to have gone paragliding back when we were in San Gil, but we opted to do th full day of white water rafting, and put off paragliding until Medellin. A couple days ago, we were going to tour around the city, and we decided to ask the person about if we had to book in advance paragliding, and just for extra info on it. Her reply was "you can go today, and I would cause the weather is beautiful". A minimal amount of convincing was needed, and we were off to go paragliding. We took the short bus ride, and then hiked up a small hill at the outskirts of the city. Because Medellin is built in a valley, when we were standing at he edge of the hill, we were overlooking the whole city, while behind us was miles of lush country side. The views really were amazing.
When getting to the top of the hill...it was only a matter of minutes until Luc was strapped into the harness and off in the air. This was the first time I had seen paragliding up close, so I was taking it all
in while still on the ground. Watching some of the acrobatic moves that are done was making me a little nervous...seeing the parachute swinging from side to side. Soon enough, Luc was down, and it was my turn to fly. I thought that I was going to have the same pilot as Luc, but a different guy came up and strapped me in. Little did I know what I was getting into. The pilot for me is the current South American Acrobatic Champion...and I did now find that out until after my flight was complete. We started off simply soaring through the air, gaining height from hot air pockets, and that feeling in itself was unreal. Being suspended way above the ground, sitting in a chair pretty much...might be one of the closest experiences you can come to flying. After floating for about 10-15 minutes, my pilot made a motion with his hand asking if I wanted to do some acrobatics. Seeing the other parachutes and the mild tricks they did...I figured I must do them to fully enjoy the experience. We start by swinging from side to side, and that seemed extreme enough for me. Not before long, we
are doing a downward spiral with our bodies being whipped around in circles. There were times when I was unsure of what direction was up or down, and which direction we were moving in. All your senses are slightly numbed because your direction is lost, but also, the only sound you hear is the rush of wind past your ears, so it is like listening to a large amount of white noise. One of the weirdest feeling was coming out of a spin or something, and being fully suspended in one spot. For a brief second, you are completely weightless, and are just hanging in one spot. After my downward spiral, I thought my ride was close to being done, and the extreme part was over. I was wrong. I really wish I had a video of my flight, because even looking back at it, it seems like it was too extreme for me. My pilot started taking us into a dive towards the ground, and I was constantly expecting him to pull out of the dive and swerve back up to the sky. We kept on diving down, and at the very last second, he veered so that we were parallel to the ground, only meters above the ground. Only after landing did I learn that we were so close to the ground, that the end of our parachute was dragging on the ground. The ride was truly unique, and one of the main highlights of my trip (although I think I have already said that).
After we landed and my knees gained some strength (as well as my stomach), we got back on the bus to head back home. I was feeling fine considering the road we were on was extremely narrow and full of hairpin turns. All of a sudden...I could feel my face start to tingle, and my stomach churn. My Spanish is extremely poor and broken as is, but added to a sense of urgency, all I was able to muster was a rushed "Aqui! Aqui!". Luckily that was enough for the bus to stop, and I hopped out. Luckily, being able to stand on solid ground was enough to calm my stomach and I was able to calm myself down enough. In the minutes that I was using to steady myself, I did not realize that the bus has pulled away and continued on it's route. I was in the middle of the country side, about a 15 minute drive outside of the city. After walking, wondering how long it will take me to be able to attempt to find my way back, I see Luc running around one of the right angle corners with our cameras and jackets. The bus driver had thought that the spot was simply where I wanted to be let out, and nothing more than that. Luckily, the bus had stopped, and waited for us to return, and when I got back on the bus, I received many laughs from the fellow passengers. We made it back to the hostel alive, and the whole day can be chalked up as another adventure that has been encountered so far on the trip.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.068s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0371s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Matthew
non-member comment
Sounds Fun!
Hi! Your paragliding experience sounds awesome. I'll be travelling with my girlfirend from Aug 08 - Dec 08 all throughout Colombia. Please let me know any details you can provide about where we can go paragliding while in Medellin! Thanks! Matt