Of all the people I know, or at least the ones with which my travelling companion has corresponded twice via email, Paulo definitely seemed like the guy with which I should jump off of a 1700 foot mountain in Rio de Janeiro. He owned our well-run hostel and came recommended by both the guide book AND Ryan Condon. Convincing (deluding?) myself of Paulo's ability and invincibility was the most important part of deciding to go hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro.
Frijole and I had discussed going hang gliding before even leaving DC and we had scheduled the jump a week ago, but I was not fully ready to make the leap until I got a bird's eye view of Rio from base of the famous Christ Redeemer statue. It may have been His divine spirit or his bird-like pose or simply the stunning landscape of the city. In any event, I was sold. The flight was scheduled for the next morning at 11:00 am.
That night, Frijole and I took it easy (not a simple task in party-crazy Rio). The thought of flying hungover and regurgitating a gift onto a favella 1500 feet below seemed unpleasant. 11:00 came quickly, despite some nervous sleep. Unfortunately Paulo said the winds weren`t right. We were disappointed, but obviously did not question his decision. We were told to check again at 1:00. Two hours later, the winds hadn`t changed, so we made plans to do other activities. Suddenly (and it really was surprising!), we were told to get ready. The winds had changed and the driver was on his way to pick us up. There was just enough time to grab a Brazilian pastry thingy next door and change clothes. No time to change our minds. No need to, though, because Paulo is the best and our American friends had flown with him 3 days before.
The ride to the mountain took about 20 minutes. We met our pilots, and neither was Paulo. It was ok, though, because they worked with Paulo, and Paulo only hires the best, probably. Frijole's pilot had 12 years of experience. My pilot, Marco joked that he he'd been flying for 2 days. I decided not to ask again for the real answer. Marco told me the 3 things I absolutely needed to do to ensure a safe take-off: NEVER stop running on the platform, stand up straight while going down the ramp, and look at the horizon while you run.
Paulo was at the staging area preparing to fly with someone else. He shared my enthusiasm while shaking hands and remembered Frijole's name from the emails. Paulo is a cool dude.
There were about fifteen minutes of preparation, then about ten minutes of waiting. When somebody decided the winds were right, Paulo and his tandem passenger ran down the ramp. Ten seconds later, Frijole took flight. It appeared successful. Marco quickly confirmed that I was committed to running without stopping, counted down from three, and took off with me at his side.
The flight lasted ten minutes. When we landed on the beach, my cheeks hurt. When the adrenaline wore off, I realized it was because humans aren't conditioned to grin continuously for ten minutes.
You should try hang gliding because flying is amazing. You should go to Rio because it's beautiful. And you should do the two of them together because Paulo is the best.
Frijole and I had discussed going hang gliding before even leaving DC and we had scheduled the jump a week ago, but I was not fully ready to make the leap until I got a bird's eye view of Rio from base of the famous Christ Redeemer statue. It may have been His divine spirit or his bird-like pose or simply the stunning landscape of the city. In any event, I was sold. The flight was scheduled for the next morning at 11:00 am.
That night, Frijole and I took it easy (not a simple task in party-crazy Rio). The thought of flying hungover and regurgitating a gift onto a favella 1500 feet below seemed unpleasant. 11:00 came quickly, despite some nervous sleep. Unfortunately Paulo said the winds weren`t right. We were disappointed, but obviously did not question his decision. We were told to check again at 1:00. Two hours later, the winds hadn`t changed, so we made plans to do other activities. Suddenly (and it really was surprising!), we were told to get ready. The winds had changed and the driver was on his way to pick us up. There was just enough time to grab a Brazilian pastry thingy next door and change clothes. No time to change our minds. No need to, though, because Paulo is the best and our American friends had flown with him 3 days before.
The ride to the mountain took about 20 minutes. We met our pilots, and neither was Paulo. It was ok, though, because they worked with Paulo, and Paulo only hires the best, probably. Frijole's pilot had 12 years of experience. My pilot, Marco joked that he he'd been flying for 2 days. I decided not to ask again for the real answer. Marco told me the 3 things I absolutely needed to do to ensure a safe take-off: NEVER stop running on the platform, stand up straight while going down the ramp, and look at the horizon while you run.
Paulo was at the staging area preparing to fly with someone else. He shared my enthusiasm while shaking hands and remembered Frijole's name from the emails. Paulo is a cool dude.
There were about fifteen minutes of preparation, then about ten minutes of waiting. When somebody decided the winds were right, Paulo and his tandem passenger ran down the ramp. Ten seconds later, Frijole took flight. It appeared successful. Marco quickly confirmed that I was committed to running without stopping, counted down from three, and took off with me at his side.
The flight lasted ten minutes. When we landed on the beach, my cheeks hurt. When the adrenaline wore off, I realized it was because humans aren't conditioned to grin continuously for ten minutes.
You should try hang gliding because flying is amazing. You should go to Rio because it's beautiful. And you should do the two of them together because Paulo is the best.
6 comments:
You are freaking insane -- and you clearly share a bloodline with Meg Pearson. jesus h.
Can't wait to hear more about it.
...and apparently a bloodline with your Schwesterchen ... unfortunately, my husband-to-be is not as excited as I am about me trying to fly (again) ;-)
Phil,
You left out the part about you screaming like a little girl at take off.
Alex
Awesome picture!!! Do you guys have one of "Bruederchen" (aka Felipe) too?
There are pictures of me hang gliding, too, but I'm following the advice of Paulo (of course) not to put the cd into a computer at an internet cafe. Y'all will have to wait until I get back for those picks!
"The flight lasted ten minutes. When we landed on the beach, my cheeks hurt. When the adrenaline wore off, I realized it was because humans aren't conditioned to grin continuously for ten minutes."
That made me laugh my ass off. Do you guys want to play poker this tuesday?
Post a Comment