Hang Gliding over Rio

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  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Tuesday, October 9, 2007

We have decided to write seperate reports on our flight.

GREG´S REPORT:
We set off for the Pedra Bonita (a mountain in the Tijuca Nacional Park), a few minutes away from the Southern part of the city, for our flights.  I was a bit nervous but Jules seemed fine. 

We arrived at the beach, the landing spot, and filled in the usual indemnity forms, basically allowing them to throw us off the cliff if they felt like it.

We were then introduced to our pilot, Huy Harra.  Luckily for us he is the record holder for tandem jumps, having done over 19000 jumps.  He is a former lawyer who used to fly recreationally, until one day he began to fly tandem jumps when he was asked to take the music group, "The Police" on a flight.  After doing that it eventually became a business.  He is currently studying psychology and explained how this helped with getting people to overcome fears and run off the mountain happily!

He asked us various questions as we rode through the national park to the 'take off' spot.  From this he said he was then able to tell what kind of personalities we had.

He asked Jules to remember getting her first bicycle, and that when she ran to take-off, she must think she is running towards her first bike.

I said I could not remember getting my first bike and so he said we would remember something different.  He said that it appeared I had a very good relationship with my parents, I agreed, and after chatting for a while he a asked me to imagine that Mom was standing in the clouds ahead of the runway, and that I must run towards her .......

A local disembarks from the Bondes

so now I was very emotional and I had forgotten to feel scared of the fact that I would be running off a cliff, 3000m above the ground!

We did a safety check, we were harnessed up and we  received our safety instructions, and we did a practice run to synchronise our steps and then we were ready.  He asked me to run down the platform and to keep running (like a cartoon character running in the sky) until he told me to lie down in the harness.

So, we stood up, we placed our right legs forward, I waved to Jules and I looked ahead to see Mom waiting in the sky ......... and then we ran!  We ran down the platform and off into the sky.  I had a moments panic as we began to fly, but I could swear I heard Mom saying "well done" and then all was OK.

I cannot describe what it felt like.  We flew around the mountain, high above the ground and Marcel (I was flying with him) acted like my tour guide, pointing out the sights of Rio below us.

He took pictures from time to time and the feeling of floating above the ground was brilliant.  We flew for 15 minutes, twisting and turning in big circles until he asked me to hold onto his shoulder tightly.  He unlocked the harness behind my knees so my legs could hang down for the landing.  He made a sharp turn, coming in from over the sea towards the sand, and the hanglider shook as we dropped lower towards the beach.  It felt like a roller coaster as we descended, then suddenly it was calm again as we approached the sand.  We ran along the sand and came to a stop. 

As I looked up to try and find Jules in the air, I saw the take-off strip and couldn't believe I had run off it.

Chilling out after hangliding

I thanked Mom again and waited for Jules.

I was filming all over the sky, looking for Jules when I heard her calling.  They had landed above the beach, on a grassy piece of land on the esplanade.

We both had huge smiles on our faces and enjoyed a drink before heading back to the hostel.

JULIE´S REPORT:

We were picked up from the hostel in a landrover and driven over to the site where we met our 'pilot'. Driving up to the top of the mountain & through the national park, I started to get really excited at the thought of what I was about to experience, but the sight of the ramp & the awesome views of Rio all around me were what really took my breath away....I couldn't wait to run off that ramp & soar over it all!  My pilot was going to be Ruy - the owner of the company and the guy who holds the record for doing the most tandem hangliding flights in the world!  So - I reckoned I was probably in safe hands...I can´t say I felt nervous anyway and was really looking forward to it. 

The feeling of running off the ramp and then getting taken up by the air currents was probably my most enjoyable moment....and then probably just enjoying soaring over the amazing sights of the national park and the beach....absolutely AWESOME and UNFORGETTABLE!!  I don´t think we made the greatest landing as we missed the sandy beach and ended up on a grassy patch just next to it and really close to some sunbathers...maybe that was the plan all along, but somehow I don´t think so? 

After landing we got the pictures that they took of us - using a camera attached to the hanglider - and had a nice drink of coconut water to celebrate!  What a great experience - probably my favourite of our trip so far!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Colonial building in the Lapa District	Family market Santa Teresa	Greg after a safe landing on the beach	Greg and Jules on the Bondes
Greg gets ready	Greg takes off	Greg, just after taking off from Pedra Bonita	House along Santa Teresa
Julie above Rio	Julie admires the waves far below	Julie buys popcorn, supporting the locals	Julie gets ready
Julie takes a congratulatory Coconut drink	Julie with the Tijuca National Park under her	Lapa Arches	Local cafe in Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa hillside	The Rio coastline far below	The Santa Teresa Bondes (tram)	The underground Metro
The weird looking ´´Catedral Metropolitana´´

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