Treinta y tres

The day started about right. The deck chairs and umbrellas were still wet from some silent precipitation that must have occurred overnight. Perfect. 

Fruit atop a hearty granola with a pineapple based fresh juice filled me up and café con leche got me firing all cylinders. Pow!

The sun started peeking out as I walked past the pool. Looks like a spectacular day ahead. 

I see this huge wasp nest on the drive up each day and today I asked Flaco to stop so we could take a picture. 

Up top I met another of Oscar's family.  In addition to Helen, was Oscar (junior). They live in a very modest shack less than a mile from launch. Helen goes to the school just down the road near launch. Oscar is here every day and carries gliders up the hill for extra money. 

Rich, rearing to go. I asked him for a "before" photo, and this was it. 

The house thermals were working and EVERYONE got up and established at cloudbase. I was so excited to see Lars back at cloud base, so I shot a bit of video of he and many others bobbing around and recycling at cloud base. Best day of this group so far.  It was spectacular to see. 

Most made it to Roldanillo and beyond. We could have flown the box easy, but once at La Vitoria, nobody wanted to land at La Union so we kept flying. Matt's group few south to Tulua and part way back which is pretty far south of Zarsal. 

 "Farmer" on top of the whipped cream. 

After flying to Roldanillo, we crossed to Zarsal, then La Vitoria, back towards Roldanillo diagonally to the middle of the valley, then back to La Vitoria where I landed with Rich, nearly 5 hours after launching. Yes!

Rich and his welcoming committee. Nice!

Rich's "after" photo. The Gatorade bottle went down in one drink.

We opted to let Flaco pick us updated than take the bus, so we went along to get Farmer, Shane and Bianca before coming back to the hotel. 

Farmer, Bianca and Shane. Loving it!

We had a great time reminiscing all the way back. The west wind was super strong tonight but we were all safe landing on the other side of the valley. 

We got back at 6:30, missing Rob's talk but making it to dinner on time. Yum!

There was so much energy at dinner tonight. It was so fun to watch everyone tell thier story and chat about the day. Many personal best flights, indeed. 

After dinner we debriefed our groups and then slack lining began. Yep, that is over a tile floor. 

It rained on and off this evening.  Perfect for tomorrow. Everyone is safe and accounted for. Three more days. 

Muy buenos noches,

Martín

Treinta y dos

The rain last night showered off an on until the wee hours of the morning. Everything was quiet and wet outside except for the roosters crowing at 6am. 

The breakfast burrito is a favorite of mine with guacamole, eggs and veggies and white cheese. Lime squeezed in for good measure was just the ticket. The juice was tangy and yet again I have no idea what today's juice was. Just delicious. 

Five chose to ride the top of the Cipri today and enjoy the fresh air. The roads were wet as we approached the turn off near Roldanillo. 

Folks down here mostly ride scooters. Helmets are sometimes worn but not so much. Children are taken along for the ride as are small dogs and lots of items that we at home would take in a car.   

I am all about staying positive, but it important not to forget about reality. I reminded everyone in my group to bring thier plast bags we handed out in case of rain. I even took my rain jacket. Boy did that work out well. 

It rained for about 15 minutes and we fortunately had some plastic to stand under. After a while the sun came out and we launched about half the group before shade allowed the wind to slide over the back of the hill. 

Jessie, sporting an image stabilization helmet mount for his GoPro camera. 

The last of us launched eventually, and by that time virtually all of the first group had landed except Bianca who is in Farmers group. 

"Marge Simpson hair clouds" 

Surprisingly, the day improved late, allowing Brian and Phyllis on tandem, Rob Sporrer, Farmer, Bianca and myself to stay up and cross the valley for a 3 hour flight. (4 hrs for Bianca having survived the long wait in the air).

'Glory' below me traversing cloud edges.

We fllew together and the sky was so beautiful. The climbs were there, the glides were easy and long. 

It was such a great reward for waiting it out and making sure everyone was safely launched first. 

 

Brian with a well deserved beer. 

Farmer starting off with a cold Gatorade. 

Yours truly and Bianca followed by...

Phyllis, the most experienced tandem passenger on the tour. 

We all paid for a cold drink from Flaco's cooler on the way back and then he gave us another round of beer 'gratis' as well. Garcias Flaco!

Brian gave his talk right on time, arriving at the hotel with 30 minutes to spare. Dinner was stuffed peppers to start, followed by pork medalions in a Hawaiian sauce with the green potato mush that tastes like broccoli (yum) followed by rice pudding. 

After dinner we all debriefed and I shotup to my room to get some sleep. It was a much needed rest. 

Hasta pronto,

Martín