Treinta y cinco

The sky was dark today. Refreshing. It rained last night.  Potential is high. Feeling a little tired. 

Breakfast was on time and we had fresh fruit, granola, guanabana fruit wedge, and a crepe with chicken and mushroom sauce. Quite good. 

The guides are all holding up well, but we will all be ready to go home in two days time. Everyone is plugged into thier phone or iPods on the way up today. I blog on the ride up and at night if I'm not asleep already.  Time to center and rev up for the day. 

The four month old let me rub its nose on the hike up the stairs today. Sweet. 

We launched as early as possible to avoid the north wind we saw in the clouds. Only two out of the group landed early today. The rest did a fantastic job of getting up and recycling at cloud base. We hung out for a while, then crossed to Roldanillo and gaggled at base there too. The west wind arrived early and forced our hand.  We glided out to the valley and we all got a climb together

View from the top of the first valley climb..

Farmer and I topped the climb first and we went looking for the next one together along the road towards Zarsal. We hoped it would be at the bridge where the river cuts under the road, but the north wind had us drifting to the south, over the 'hard to retrieve zone' instead. 

As pilots showed up they found the climb and it looked like we might all get out and make it to the next town. Rob dove in on tandem, but was too low to get the climb, landing perfectly into the north wind. A few others had the same fate. 

As  Farmer, Bianca and I topped out the climb we were still lower than cloud base and opted to run for Zarsal with what we had. Clyde got high enough to make a play for Zarsal too, but he and Bianca were too low and landed at just outside of town while Matt (Farmer) and I beamed up to base in a huge climb over the tile roofs deep in the center of town. 

The others continued to struggle in the light lift and a few made it upwind to an easier retrieve zone on the north side of the road.  The cane fields south of the road, surrounded by locked gates = long hot walk in the sun to where the retrieve vehicle is forced to wait for pilots who land out here. No pressure!??

Finally high, I watched and confirmed all the pilots in my group had landed safely. Farmer and I decided to fight the wind back to La Union rather than spend all day on retrieve going south towards Cali with the wind at our backs. Rob Sporrer came on th radio ad said Bradley was in the air south of Zarsal and was headed our way too. 

After fighting a 13 mph headwind at times, Farmer and I finally landed in town. Bradley came in just minutes behind us. Juice bar time. 

Brad had a car stashed nearby and we drove to the town center (the parque) "park."

Some funny stories were told around the pool when we got back. Shane had landed deep in the no retrieve zone but was close to the boundary and the road. He ended up hiking along canals and even tried to cross a stream using s fallen tree.  He fell in of course, but the water was shallow. The mud was waist high. 

Avocado starter for dinner. 

Giant tamale night again. Yummy. 

A special dance program in our honor took place after dinner. Complete with mint tea and group involvement as we followed along learning all kinds of salsa moves. It was quite a work out and the west wind was perfect to help us stay cool. 

Near the end of the program there was a candle dance with handkerchiefs and about half of the group was there for that.

Finally the staff of Casa Blanca thaned us for being tier guests, and gave us bracelets as gifts. 

They even had a special t-shirt made for Rob Sporrer and Marite's baby girl at home. So thoughtfull. 

We went to bed late and I woke up at 6 am realizing I hadn't emailed home, blogged or stayed awake for a FaceTime chat with my family. 

The last day and night will be non-stop action. I'll have to catch up on the blog on the bus to Cali perhaps. 

I'm finishing this on the ride to launch. I won't be able to publish it until I get back tonight. 

Cheers,

Martín

Treinta y cuatro

6 am sky. Looking really good. 

Still epic potential @ 7am. We are stoked.  

Yesterday there was talk of a reserve toss. It wasn't anyone in our group, but there was still a story or two to tell. I managed to misread the tandem board and show up to launch with my solo gear only, stranding Phyllis for the day.  Oops!  I apologized and she was a great sport, allowing me to fly her another day to make it up to her. It will be Sunday, the last day of the last tour.  Whew!  

Breakfast was delicious as usual. 

Yesterday Marge  found herself landing in a field that looked  clear, but on short final, she saw a 2 foot pipe with wires leading in opposite directions up and to either side of her. Unconventional yes, dangerous yes, but she landed safely, although she did knock out power to at least one home destroying a television. After negotiating a price for replacement, she was ushered via motorcycle to the nearest ATM to get cash, and that was that (about $200 USD). Bittersweet. 

The cyclists have a race today?

We left at 8:00 sharp only to find that the roads are closed from 8:00am until 12:30pm for the bike race. We chose to try an alternate route that the hikers used to get to launch. 

Farmer explaining our dilemma and plan. 

John and Rich riding the jeep tailgate. 

The road was good but very steep in places and we had to get out and walk for some sections. Adventure!

We got to launch in time. Conditions looked good and folks soared right away. The sky clouded and got dark at times but many had good flights. 

Great clouds but a bit too many at times. 

Most of my guys made it past Roldanillo, and Seth went halfway to Tulua with Skyler, landing eventually in mostly full shade. 

New friends at the military training camp. 

The west wind arrived strongly. Farmer, Bianca and I found ourselves as the soul survivors and flew back north to Zarsal landing in 15mph+ wind in or near the military base. All safe. 

Mr hand made a cameo appearance!

I got back I time to repair a zipper on my backpack and prep for my talk. All good!

Super tired after dinner. Got to FaceTime with the family at about 10:30pm. All zzzzz's by 11:00pm. 

Ciao!

Martín

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