Treinta y uno

 

The day looked great, and after the day before it series likely to be similar. 

The coffee maker was full, yet few were up to enjoy it at 6:30 with me. By 7am ffolks were strolling in For breakfast. 

It was a nice quiet moment to enjoy the day. 

Soon people trickled in and farmer arrived holding a small Pringles can. 

I assumed he had captured something and boy was I right! It wasn't a cicada as I thought, but a scorpion instead. 

Fruit and oatmeal proved to be very filling. The juice was fresh, but unknown to me. 

Brian holding on for the bumpy section 

Marge hanging out on the "jeep."

Boris and yours truly. It was an extra fun ride today with the music cranked way up. Farmer can't help but sing along at the top of his lungs at times to get a rise out of Flaco. (I helped today as well). 

Paragliding line anchors the air cleaner. 

Flaco's rig is constantly being worked on, improved, repaired or modified in some way. It's always educational to watch him tinker with it. We arrive about 15 earlier than the main group. Extra time for...

Noticing a cool fly that matched my hat. 

Watching Farmer with a cool butterfly. 

We also noticed that small clouds were blowing over the back out of the northwest on launch. We wasted no time in ushering everyone off the hill as soon as possible to avoid missing the safe window of time to launch. 

It became a curious day to say the least. Most got airborne in time but the NW wind pinned the last few of us on launch for an extra 15 minutes.

Petrus and I finally got to fly tandem together and were the first of the last group to take off.

Joining the rest after a low save. Whew!

At least one pilot opted not to fly as it was getting too late and the wind was coming over the back more and more. 

The clouds were being pushed out to the east by the early west wind, forcing us all out to the safety of the valley.  Convergence formed diagonally from above launch towards Zarsal. It began to sprinkle and then rain upwind at launch as we drifted away to the southeast. Rob Sporrer flew solo for the first time in 8 days and clung to the wispies of the convergent cloud street, radioing for everyone to join him and share the abundant lift. Several pilots were able to climb up to it but we still left a trail of pilots along our path from launch to Roldanillo, Zarsal and some made it as far as La Vitoria. Petrus and I landed nicely just outside of Zarsal. All good. 

We hopped on a bus right after we finished packing. Empanadas and smoothies filled us up in Roldanillo, where we joined two others who ended up there before us. They were just finishing their roasted chicken. Mmm. 

Once back in La Union, Petrus and I had a proper cappuccino at a favorite spot. I spent the next hour trying to sort out my phone which somehow ran out of minutes after recharging it with Julian's help the morning before. Rob assured me we would just expense it and to just put more money on it at the phone store. It was kind of a personal mission of mine to make it right. But in the end it wasn't worth the hassle and I juiced it up with 20,000 Cp ($10.00 US) to last me the week remaining here.  The nice people at the store recognized my frustration and gave me a few coffee and chocolate candies on my second and final visit to the phone shop today. Esta bien. 

Before my favorite carrot soup With coriander was served, Farmer gave yet another fine talk to everyone in attendance, including Brian and myself. Gospel. 

Chicken dinner,  Locro (veggie mash) and rice did the trick. Yum. 

Sent this image to my young kids to wish them a goodnight. As I finish this post it has started to rain outside my window. Could be epic tomorrow!?? Vamos a ver. 

Hasta mañana,

Martín

 

Treinta

First day of the last group was wet and it had rained on BOTH sides of the valley the night before. Perfect. It was dry, strong and windy on the last day of tour 3. Hard reset achieved. 

Breakfast went well, and I realized my phone data and voice was about to expire. I asked Julian if he could phone in a recharge for my minutes and he said "of course" with a smile and went to work. There was some sort of problem, and without hesitation he zoomed off on his scooter to town to solve it. We ate breakfast, had an introductory  discussion and prepared to leave. Julian was still working on the phone until the last second. Success. I told him there was a big tip in his future. 

The ride up was somewhat subdued at first. Eventually Flaco played some music, including the Bee Gees, The Village People, and Led Zeppelin. Love this guy. 

The horse was waiting to be saddled up when we arrived ahead of the Cipri. 

Low clouds gave us plenty of time for an orientation chat. 

As if on que, the sky opened up a we began launching pilots into the light lift, most everyone getting established as the day improved. Sweet!

Bianca, thermal huntress. 

I was supposed to take Petrus (Peter) today, but the new arrival Bianca lost her glider bag on a quick connecting flight from Miami. No glider = tandem. She is a very experienced pilot and kept me on my toes as we thermals up to cloud.

Eventually I handed over the controls and she stayed above most everyone for the rest of the flight as I took pictures, video and ate snacks. Awesome. 

The wind was an unusual easterly, drifting us back towards La Union after getting to base near La Vitoria on the other side of the valley. Not wanting to land, we climbed out over La Union with Rob Sporrer and Brian Howell, both on tandem as well, an headed for Roldanillo.

Rob landed first at the airstrip just east of Roldanillo so we headed that way. The bumblebee was too low to make it, landing just short, and we landed right next to Rob as he indicated light and variable winds. Everyone was accouted for and we were picked up in 15 minutes by the Cipri. We were chewing chicken and slurping smoothies within the hour. Perfect day. 

Dinner started promptly at 7:00, having finished our 5:00 group discussion early, giving individual groups time to debrief with thier guides. 

Everyone was tired but fired up nonetheless. After dinner, however, very few lingered, and most were in bed by 8:00. 

I was trying to watch an episode of game of thrones on my computer when my phone jarred me from my semiconscious state. A FaceTime call from home actually connected with minimal delay and perfec image quality. Yes!  I got to see and talk to my family for the second time in as many days. I'm defiantly missing them but the days are ticking away and I will see them soon. Thank you iPhone!

This group seems to have warmed up to us right away. Normally it seems to take a day it two, This is a Lucille Ball kinda group:  "Instant chummy" is how I'd describe it. The guides all have been honing thier talks, presentations and delivery of information.  Everyone seems to be at an optimal level. A well oiled machine. It is so much fun, for everyone. 

Dulces Sueños,

Martín