Vientiuno

First things first. 

Sleeping in, in a familiar place, with the fan gently cooling the alreadywarming air around me was amazing. As I finished getting ready, I looked out across the pool, smiled and realized how this place, this room, this country feels like my home away from home. 

My good friend john Dudley gave me a "lesson" as he calls it, more like a session in movement, alignment, motion and relaxation. He has been a practitioner of this kind of muscle/skeletal work for some time. I feel like a million bucks (that's like a billion Colombian pesos here). 

I just got a haircut. Best $2.50 I've spent today. Much cooler. Helmet hair tomorrow? I think not. Carmen, my very capable wife, who always cuts my hair at home would approve of this one. Right?

Some pilots from the new group rolled in about 2:00pm and got settled. The rest of the group will be here around midnight. Tomorrow we will fly and acquaint the new guests to the airial playground we affectionately call the sandbox:

Matt "farmer" Beechinor, created this map of the area for our guests when they arrive. It should give everyone a sense of where we fly.  

Flying "the box" is to launch between La Union and Roldanillo at the Las Tankas launch in the mountains that run roughly north-south (or another another launch called Pico), fly south along the mountains to Roldanillo, then cross the valley to the east to the city of Zarsal then north to La Vitoria, and finally back west, to land at La Union. It's not super hard on good days, but it can be a challenge for most days. 

It's 5:30pm. 

As I write this I felt and heard a low rumbling sound and the hotel and the room began to shake. Earthquake? Yes!

I jumped up from my bed where I was typing this into my phone to check the pool from my upstairs window. The water in the kiddie pool was sloshing around and the larger pool had some waves in it. All these years living in California and I had to come all the way down here to Colombia to feel my first earthquake. 5.2 magnitude with the epicenter about 7 miles north of the hotel. Hope there wasn't any damage.  So cool. 

Saw this tiny gecko on the Walt to dinner.

Dinner was in town at an upstairs restaurant overlooking the parké or town square. The arroz con pollo was very good, but too big to finish. I went big on the pizza last night and vowed to take it easy tonight. Success. 

The tandem list is full for tomorrow as we have lots of lower time pilots this tour. 

Turns out Matt has set the site XC distance record from Medellin and I may have set the site record from La Pintada. All because we chose to fly all the way back just for fun. How about that!?  

I traded my soccer team patch (that I carry in the name window of my glider bag) to a young boy in La Pintada. He gave me a tattered green patch (with a string on it from around his neck) of the national team so I would have the "best team" patch. I offered the less popular red "America" team patch to him which was still in mint condition thinking he might not like it. He gestured with his hand over his heart and seemed deeply grateful that I would gift him my patch that he knew I liked so much. The feeling was mutual, I assure you. 

I told the police officers (see earlier blog) about this patch exchange and I think it moved them as much as it did me. 

I'm off to bed early. Maybe I'll get up to help Marge welcome the late arrivals. I tend to stay up late prepping before a big day anyway, so we'll see. 

"Live, from La Union, it's Saturday night!"

Ciao,

Martín

Viente

A slow quiet morning with intermittent rain allowed us to sip coffee, have a plentiful breakfast and decompress from the 4 days of adventure we've enjoyed. 

Dawn and I chopped up the fruit we purchased the night before and it was an impressive buffet, complete with yogurt packs with instant coffee this time around. 

Mango, papaya, pineapple, watermelon, banana and a mystery fruit (that deserves further research as to its name), and lime wedges to keep tummys happy. 

Everything is charged up and ready to go. The sun is peeking out a little more now. It would be great to fly back to La Union today and back at Casa Blanca tonight. 

Upon arriving at launch, the wind is strong over the back and rain is on the way. We snap a group photo, drive down the hill, have lunch in Ansermanuevo, and drive back to La Union in an hour and a half. 

Flacko, Boris, Dawn & Jim, Shane, Brian, Destin, Matt and Marty. (Dubin, the third driver was in town with his family). 

We unloaded, unpacked, hit the pool, did laundry, took naps, and the guides began to get ready for the next group to arrive late the next day. It was serendipitous to get back early. We are glad to be back and relax, knowing we would stay in one familiar place the next day. We flew over some amazing terrain, and yet despite the risks, we all came out it with nothing more than a few scuffs, bruises and plenty of bug bites. Bravo, team. 

The church was open, well lit and services could be heard from the speakers inside. Not many inside, but this Iglesia gets a lot of use and is packed on Saturday and Sunday nights. 

We ate at the pizza place together and I ate way too much. It was so good, thin, crispy crust with ham and pineapple. Yum.  

It's good to be "home" at Casa Blanca. 

Cheers,

Martín

Diesinueve

By the time everyone had regrouped, it was getting late.  As we drove to our next spot the sun went down and it began to rain a little. It was refreshing to stop and tarp up the gear. We all stood in the rain to help and enjoy the light shower. 

Colombian wrist watch. The gap where glove meets jacket doesn't go unnoticed by the sun. 

We stayed in a town near Anserma, The hotel was nice enough, but the only rooms left had no windows. This meant that the fan would likely not get cooler over time, but at least with the fan, the heat soaked rooms were tolerable. There were also no Mosquitos!  

The open 2nd story window in the hall. 

In the wee hours I cracked my door open to let some cooler morning air in. The sounds of the city came in as well.

It was far less busy than the night before but now I could hear birds and only occasional traffic with some shouting of some sort that repeated intermittently. 

The sky looked cloudy and the air was humid and cool. A refreshing start. We will launch from a place called Risaralda and try to fly to Ansermanuevo (new Anserma) and topland there, or just keep going back to La Union if the sky allows. The launch at Ansermanuevo is nice, and a building on top has bathrooms. We stayed at a nice place on the top of the mountain near the launch last year that had an infinity pool overlooking the valley.

Cloud surrounded launch for hours so we waited, snacked and hung out. some young boys came by and we chatted for a while until it was time to launch. I think they were worried about me. 

Arbaro and Sergio, my new friends. 

Cloudbase stayed low and we had to really work together to stay up. Shane landed after a gallant effort and manages to go XC a bit. The rest of us worked down the ridge together and the day got weaker and harder to stay up. 

Eventually we all got a good climb to 8,000' and left together to cross the valley to the moutans to the west. We found a super light bubble but I thought I could make the foothills and mark the next climb. As I dove in I looked back to see everyone else slowly climbing.  Doh!

I was too low to get the climb and landed near the road. Destin was also too low and landed minutes later. The rest climbed out to cloud base and flew silently away. In the end farmer was the only one to make goal, landing after 5pm on the launch at Ansermanuevo. 

While enroute to meet the group we were stopped by the police to check our driver's paperwork. No biggie I thought. 

Just another routine stop, and this has happened many times before.  This time, however, they ran the info and found a problem.  The first officer poured over Flacko's  license and paperwork and checked it on the computer.  With so much time I couldn't help taking a few photos. The policia didn't like that. Now the first officer asked to see our passports. Oops. While the officer checked our IDs (bad cop), a second (good cop) came up to watch us. I chatted him up and said how much I liked his Colombian flag patch sewn to his uniform sleeve. He said he wished he had an extra to give me. I told him I was sorry for taking photos, and he said no problem so long as it wasn't video. Cool. I asked him if his pistol was a Glock and he proudly upholstered it, released the magazine, pulled back and locked the slide and said it was a "Sig" as he handed it to me to inspect it myself. "Nice grips" I said, then added "very comfortable!"  He nodded in agreement as I handed the empty weapon to Destin who was trying his best to look casual. 

Meanwhile Flacko was at the back of the car with the first cop. I gave him a look to ascertain just how serous this was for him and he gestured to me with his wrists together that they may cuff him right on the spot. Hmmm. 

The first officer came back back around to where we were and he saw how we were getting along with his partner. We now talked with the first guy (bad cop) for a good 30 minutes about where he went to school and how long I have studied Spanish, him telling us things like his sister lives in Panama, and I mentioning that we are staying in La Union at Casa Blanca and that we see lots of policia there. He said that was in his patrol area. I asked the (now friendly) first policeman about his patch too and he said he had an extra one. Sweet!  I asked how much would he sell it to me for and he said it was at his home. Rats. He offered his hat to me instead and I offered to trade for my Eagle hat but he knew he couldn't be caught wearing it while working and we politely left it at that. The other officer did the same with Destin, declining to trade. No hats. "Maybe I'll see you at the hotel in the next two weeks" I said, "and you can bring the patch?" He seemed to think it was a possibility. Who knew? Next thing you know he is showing me pictures of his girlfriend and I'm showing them both pictures from flying, (carefully scrolling past the photo I already had of the first officer). 

Ultimately we were all ready to go and they let Flacko go so he could pay his fines at the Colombian DMV or whatever and they would verify it by computer likely within a day or so. Done. Just as we rolled away saying goodby and waving, they hollerd for us to stop. I'm sure Flacko was mortified. He threw the jeep into reverse and backed slowly up to the waiting officers. Yes?

They both had thier hats off and insisted we take them. What a relief!  I agreed accept ther gift so long as we could take this photo together. Say whiskey!

Yours truly and Destin posing for policia

One of the officers took this one of us  proudly wearing out new hats. I think Flacko could have just quit about now. What a trouper. 

Story time. 

We all had some laughs up at the hotel (near launch) overlooking the city lights below, each of us telling our stories of the day. Adventure!

Goodnight from Ansermanuevo, Colombia. Tomorrow we try to fly back to La Union. 

Martín

Diesiocho

The day looks good, and as we sit down for breakfast I can see launch looming in the distance from the roadside restaurant. Lots of truckers are drive this road since it is a major artery connecting Cali and Medellin. It's a fairly nice place that caters to the traffic. 

Breakfast of champions...Jim 

Dawn says the cake is for Redbull X-Alps training.  I like her thinking. 

This hotel has a beautiful pool, though after my cold shower last night with air conditioning In my room, the desire to go for a dip quickly faded. 

Shane and Destin chilling on the couches upstairs. Flacko arrived promptly at 8:30am. Rooms were $20 USD. Nice. 

Utility drives the market here for sure. 

The launch was actually farther towards Medallin than I thought. We drove around and eventually found a suitable spot to take off. 

Some cows wanted to sample our wings, but we got away without too much slobber. 

Once away we gaggled for several minutes and it felt good to fly with everyone. 

Gliding to the next cloud with Farmer. 

It took two climbs to get back to the antennas from the night before. Matt wanked it down and toplanded at the base of them to fix a problem with his harness. He reported the worst weeds ever, so I stayed aloft and got to base overhead. 

Clouds formed on the right side within reach and I dove ahead to take advantage of the opportunity. Dawn and Destin followed and I was able to mark several climbs leaving at base as they cored up from below me. 

I found a lovely climb over this small town tucked up in the foothills. From here on out I thought we would have the high ground and an easy flight towards goal. There seemed to be a slight south wind that got stinger as the day went on. 

Ultimately we all landed short today but we did see some stunning views of villages perched on ridges  as we flew by, trying to stay out of rotor and yet climb as high as possible.  

My landing zone is on the left side on the grass near the road. I walked 100 yards to a restaurant to pack and find shade. Flacko was there before I could put my wing down from the walk. Nice. 

Whew! Lots of wind at the end, but everyone is safe on the ground. Yesterday was so amazing and today was too, but it felt like a lot more work. 

Farmer took a deep line and toplanded on the wrong side of the river (not retrievable). He caught a ride to another launchable spot, relaunched, and landed on the west side of the river by the road so he could catch a bus back to us. Cool. 

Tomorrow we launch from a new spot.  Hopefully wind won't be on the menu. 

Super tired, and this meal makes me even more so.  Ahhhhh. 

Hello to my friends and family. Miss you lots. Thanks for alowing me to be here. This has been nothing short of wonderful for me to get to do this with such a great crew. 

Muchisimas gracias a todo. 

Hasta mañana. 

Martín

Diecisiete

We are leaving the Poblado district of Medellin and it is full of upscale and interesting restaurants shops and coffee houses.  We loved the pig in front of the butcher shop. 

The first leg of our multi day trip will take us south over the western mountains bordering Medellin. We will try to fly to our next site called La Pintada where we will land and stay the night at a hotel. 

Lots of artwork in the hotel to enjoy.

Breakfast was simple and the coffee was great.  We spent most of the morning loading waypoints on our flight instruments to help navigate the route. Matt "Farmer" Beechinor deserves a huge thanks for picking the route and choosing waypoints, while recovering from being sick for several days. 

Lots of tall buildings everywhere.

Flacko was on time and loading up was a snap.  The city was already heating up as the intense rays of the sun beat down on the concrete and tile jungle.  We endured lots of fumes from the traffic on the way up the mountain, knowing the air would be far more pristine and cool up at the clouds. 

On launch I had a Coke and remembered my namesake Marty Newberry. He was my dad's best friend growing up.  I took his name and remember fondly how generous and thoughtful he was to my sister and me. He was a Coca-Cola delivery driver and it's a wonder I wasn't too when I got older. He taught me to count to ten in Spanish. I miss him and will never forget him.

The launch was amazing.

We were in the air together right away but getting up to the clouds was challenging. After a while Destin, Dawn Farmer and Shane climbed out, and I was on thier tails. Brian and Jim followed a ways behind but well on thier way. 

Once at cloudbase we traversed the huge city below. It was serious, spectacular, and surreal.

Flying the clouds was truly amazing. I shot as much video as I could but vowed to focus on staying high, on course and safe.

We launched at around 7,600 feet. Cloudbase was as high as 10,000' but we flew into higher terrain making our height seem inadequate. At one point the clouds touched the ridge yet we were able to surf the edge of the cloud a thousand feet higher than base. A feat we've all heard of but seldom experienced. 

It became my favorite flight to date at this point.

In the end Farmer and I made it to goal first, but he got a stellar climb above tomorrow's takeoff point and pressed on to take advantage of the opportunity. I happily boated around for an hour with Brian and Destin who arrived last. Dawn, Jim and Josh landed short, but everyone was safe and happy to reunite, shower, eat, and finally sleep at an air conditioned hotel!

Surrounded by friendly kids, it is a nice welcome committee indeed.

I don't usually drink beer, but this time it was just the ticket. Brian, Destin and I toasted to a spectacular and rewarding day.

Today will be no less challenging, but I feel happy and relaxed. 

Gotta run!

Saludos de La Pintada, Colombia!

Martín