Saturday, December 16, 2006

I return to El Bolson 1st of December 2006


Felt pretty good to get back here, Victor and Martin picked me up from the bus station and we drove to the new house. Marilla was there but otherwise I was the only visitor besides Victor who has been spending his summers here for 4 years. There was some rain and a full rainbow in the field behind the house, which serves as a landing field, just what I needed. We caught up about what I had been doing and the building of the house. To give a quick history Martin and Mariella run a small paragliding school do tandem flights and have a house that serves as a hostel for paragliders, mostly Argentinian. I spent 3 weeks in their old house in Feburary of 2005. Turns out my timing was pretty good last year they were in transition, had sold the old house but not built the new one, so last year everyone was living in tents on the land while the house was built! Also last year was a bit unusual with the weather and not very many cross country flyable days. Well so here I am untill middle of January, hoping to get in some good flying but also looking foreward to long summer days and the relaxed atmosphere here.

Mendoza 11-29

2 days on a buses brought me to Mendoza. I had considered going through northern argentina but was actually not feeling like exploring new sites, meeting new people and then leaving, I was itching to return to El Bolson where could invest my time with friends from 2005 and hang it in one area to get to know it better. So I figured one stop to break up the journey and here begins the story of a fateful day. I arrived 4:30am into Mendoza, a decent sized city popular on the tourist route through Argentina. Turns out it was so popular 3 hostels I looked at had no open beds! I of course had not made reservations in advance. That's a sign I thought I'll return to the bus station and continue on to El Bolson today. At the bus station I ran into a tout promoting his hostel, turns out his father and brother were tandem pilots and there would be a jeep going up to launch that afternoon leaving from the hostel. Decision made for me I walked over chatted with his father over tea made arangements to meet up at 2:30 for the ride to launch then crashed out in the last available bunk bed in a room full of sleeping travelers. Napping for a few hours I woke to hang out and watch the movie Edward Scissorhands with a group of Israelis, no big deal but typical of the traveling that doesn't hold much interest for me these days. The jeep left at 4pm for launch, on the ride up I got to know a swiss couple going up for their first tandem flight. We shared typical traveler conversation they were eager to learn about paragliding and how it was to travel around flying different areas. An hour drive, 30 mins rough 4x4 climb brought us to launch. Ready to get out to vehicle I realize I thing immediately, it is windy. Desert

Iquique 11-21 to 11-26


For those pilots reading this here is my advice about Iquique. It's a big city, you can stay in town or on the south side of town is the Altazor flight park. For $11 a night you get free internet, kitchen, a place to land and fold your glider. They sell stuff and have a repair center, also you can rent vehicles for the day and probably even a driver which is needed for cross country flights. When I arrived there were 32 pilots staying there. However many pilots were in groups so getting to know people wasn't easy. Cheap and easy to take local bus up to launch. Usually pilots fly the site called Alto Hospicio above Iquique in the morning, then land on the beach or back at Altazor and hang out for the middle of the day, in the evening you can return to Alto Hospicio or share a truck and drive 15km to Palo Buque where when conditions are good you take off at sea level and soar up 800 meters over desert to practice manuevers and repeat, that or practice sand skiing, which is a good way to scoop a lot of sand in your glider. And for XC? Wish I would have known this earlier. From Iquique you can really only fly 10k to the north and 5 to the south. So for a day you can do laps but this gets boring quick. For longer flights you need to start out in the morning and drive to the south however far you want to fly back- possible for 30-50-100-200 km flights but!! for anything over 30 you need permission to cross the airport with requires dropping off a copy of flying license and passport and calling before entering airspace, which requires having someone on the ground to call in by cellphone as you pass. So this works fine if you have 5 people to share the cost and hire a driver for retrieve and make the call. For me this was all to much planning and networking.. and money. I kind of like to take off and see where my mood and the conditions take me, not possible in Iquique. That and the dynamic/thermic conditions and scenery were not all that interesting to me. Great place to practice but for me 6 days was enough I would return with friends to practice acro or do some XC together. Oh as near as I can tell November is the best month for XC I think conditions slow down during the summer.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Not Much Happens. Lima Peru


Well it seems I've spent more time in Lima than anticipated. I arrived the 23rd of October and even got to fly that first day. Costa Verde is a basic costal soaring site with consistant weather but the addition of city buildings to use for dynamic life. A comfortable life here as well as my friend Ryan have made it easy for time to pass while not much happens, with the flying or with my motivation. Ryan, who I met in Durango in 98 is one of those people I've had a good relationship with and stayed in touch with, even if it's only once every year or two, because I knew if we were ever in the same place again the friendship would pick where it left off; and it has. I broke up my time here with a trip to the moutains to try and get in some big flights. My original intent was to spend the bulk of my time in the Peruvian Andes. However a week and a half in between the Cordillera Negra and Cordillera Blanca yielded only 2 ten minute flights, it was either rainy or high pressure and the one good looking day I wasn't able to utilize. Amazing country as you can see from a 3 day treking trip; I know I will return here again. During my trip to the mountains Ryan decided to learn paragliding here in Lima and it's been cool to see his quick progress. We made a short trip to a costal site south of Lima, here Ryan met a slight accident and I got a cold. All's well and now I'm off to Iquique Chile to get serious about the flying business of this trip. With that said here are some pictures- http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradismyfriend/