Peace at Last

La Cumbre is a small town around 2 hours from Cordoba. It`s a quiet little town known for little other than paragliding, horse riding, hiking and relaxation. The paragliding brilliance is due to it`s positioning within the Sierra`s, a range of mountains.

We booked into the local hostel 10 mins from the centre. The deciding factor had to be the pool. In this climate a pool is bloody essential. A 5 min dip now and again gives you a great cool down. We were welcomed into the hostel with open arms. A mid aged couple run it and they have 3 dogs and 4 kids. Not exacly peace and quiet like I had imagined! Mind you, at least they stay a block away at night time. We were instantly invited to join them, and the 3 other guests, to the bbq (asado) that night. House rules dictate you must take at least 1 bottle of mid priced wine per couple and provide some food. No worries, we`re there. We had a superb evening there with some good banter but not before we had a good trek around the town and surrounding area`s. Above the town lies another Cristo statue. Not quite a spectacular as the one over Rio but brilliant nonetheless. I also found a golf course where we managed to sample a cheeky beer. Think I`ll probably head there for some golf tomorrow morning. Looks very very nice indeed.

Basically we`ve spent 3 days here now and done very little other than sun it up, eat and drink. Well, we`ve done paragliding but that`s worth it`s own entry later ....

oh heck, here it comes, I might not get another decent computer for a while .....

Friday 30th November, morning, 8.30am ish ..... we`ve done the bbq the night before.

There is a loud knock on the door. I answer it. Yes?
It`s the owner. The paragliding guide is here. Who? The paragliding guide, you pair said you would do it as soon as there was an opportunity and that is now. You must go while the winds are good.

Christ.
Shorts are pulled on, we grab the suncream, sunglasses, camera, some dosh and that`s about it. There`s not even time for breakfast let alone to brush teeth or have a shower! Before we knew it we were in some clapped out van heading out of town down a dirt path and we pick some more folk up. Ali quips that it`s like being in a Patrik Swayze movie and I cast my mind back to Point Break where he hauls Johnny Depp out of bed to do a sky dive. She`s bang on. Still, there is no time to brick it or pull out now, we`re in it to our knee`s.

Eventually we arrive at the summit. It`s only 380m says the guide. Aye, easy to say when your not hanging off the edge. The world championships were held here in 1999. The views are absolutely breathtaking. This is without doubt one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. That`s an afterthought by the way, there was no time for thinking!!

"Richard, you`ve got Paulo" is shouted at me. By this time Ali is being strapped up in some sort of harness and shaking like a leaf. Clearly papping herself a little. Only natural as I was too. Must be the norm. Some other Portugese guy was there to do his first solo flight. We watched him run down the hill and off he went. Tremendous. He didn`t fly for long and the guides and instructors all talked to him on the radio`s. He was down and safe, a job well done. I`d tell him so if I ever got down I said to myself.

Ali is up next. The craic is you run like mad and jump when they say so. Well, the wind came and off they went. Ali jumped a little early but who could blame her when the rocks were so mad. Either way she was up, up and away and my nerves were at ease knowing she went first and was safe. Next was me. Paulo said run so I ran like Forest Gump down the hill then jumped like Jonathan Edwards when he said jump. Might as well do it proper I told myself. Wow, unreal, amazing, not really any proper words for it to be fair. We were up there flying over canyons, catching thermals and chasing bloomin`big birds. A few times we were pretty close to the rocks but I felt more than safe now and totally loved it. I chatted with Paulo as if we were having a beer over the bar. It was all very relaxed although the pictures may say different. Turns out I am flying with the guy who only went and won the world championships when they were in La Cumbre. Class, I am definately safe. By now Ali has landed safely and I can breathe another sigh of relief. Paulo then asked if I fancied doing some spirals. That sounded pretty cool so we went for it even though I had no idea what that entailed whatsoever.

Ok, so my face is pulled back, my eyes are almost bleeding, my head is in a crazy spin, I am almost sick and passing out. Frikin heck it was good. Paulo later tells me we are pulling 2.5 - 3 G`s up there. I am not sure where that measures on the scale but it`s an unreal feeling. At least all I had to do was hold on for my life. We pulled a few more of these crazy manouvers and then called it a day. The weather was perfect for it though and we could have flown for hours with the thermals on top form.

Down on the landing strip Paulo showed me a birds nest with 4 eggs in it. Micro seconds later 2 birds are swooping at me and little does he know I am completely papping it. They soon left us alone though. That could well be the end of me hating birds.

Next up we are on the banks of one of the nicest small rivers. Paulo tells me this is his office and it`s time for a swim, beer and funnily enough another bbq. Awesome day. Truely spectacular and if you ever get the chance you must run like the wind and jump off that cliff.

As we made our way home we picked up a hiker. Turns out he is the world record holder for these spirals and he`s on his way to do a display so we tag along. Unfortunately the wind wasn´t right but up there at the top Ali and I were able to reflect on what had been a magical few hours and put into some sort of perspective what we had done.

I`m not even sure if TJ will believe Ali did it but I have the pics so I`ll get them on later.