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Becca, Zoe and Katy's Peruvian Adventure
Zoe and I are rather sleepy after a very exciting morning! Don't panic mums, but we went PARAGLIDING! We got insurance beforehand, but thankfully neither of us have had to use it, although my landing was rather undignified and bumpy!
We have been seeing some posters advertising paragliding with an American called Richard around town (mainly in bars!!), and decided on Friday to give him a call. 2 hours later we met up with him in a bar (!!) for our briefing, and to hand over money! He was really cool, and we're pretty sure he was well qualified, with a 100% safety record!
This morning we got up bright and early at 8.00am, and headed into town to meet him. We got in his truck, and were driven for about an hour high into the mountains near Urubamba. He didn't waste anytime when we got there, and within a couple of minutes him and Zoe were strapped together in a rather fetching set of suits and hard hats, ready to take to the skies!
The panic on her face didn't fade as it took about 20 minutes for the wind to be right for takeoff, and then suddenly, up in the air she was!
Zoe's tale:
"It was an amazing experience, didn't get very high for a while or until we swept around the mountain edge and then we rocketed upwards. The seat was so comfortable particularly as we were nestled nice and snug in between Richard's thighs!!! It wasn't actually scary at all, just quite relaxing except when I had to steer, when my rights and lefts got a bit confused! Landing was really good except I thought we might crash into a donkey! Luckily we missed and I landed standing up! Hooray!"
Rebecca's tale:
"After Zoe's flight it was my turn to reach for the stars! I was strapped to Richard (much to my delight - only joking Nathan!!), and we took off much quicker. You are meant to run towards the cliff edge, but I only managed one step before I was airbourne! I spent quite a long time hovering over some worried looking donkeys, before we managed to go quite high over the muntains. The scenery was spectacular, although I think I was a little over excited, because I had to be told to stop wriggling, as I was confusing the paraglider! I was up in the air for about 25 minutes, before we headed back to land. Now this was an adventure! When you land you are meant to lift your legs and land on your air seat (meant to be quite comfortable). I think that we came in a little fast, and before I knew what had happened, I was lying on my front, with Richard strapped on top of me!! I couldn't breathe!! We had to have help getting us apart, and it as far from the elegant bird landing I had envisaged!! I then returned to the group slightly muddy, and embarassed!!"
Overall we both had an amazing experience, and would recommend it to anyone. Infact, I want to do it again, to try and perfect my landing!
After the flights, we were treated to a slap up lunch on the mountain side. This consisted of potatoes that had been cooked in the ground. We're not entirely sure how this works, but they were incredibly tasty and muddy. I ate 9, and then felt sick! The best bit was the sauce that came with them (Richard made it himself - see he can even cook!!!). There was loads of other fruit and avocado. Zoe thought the inside of the Passion Fruits looked like fish eggs and consequently her stomach turned!
We're all off on the Lares Trail tomorrow, up to Maccu Piccu. We think we might die from exhaustion, as we had to walk up a short incline today, and I was exhausted for 2 hours after! Oh dear!
We hope everyone is well wherever you are, and we'll have lots of exciting tales to tell you in a week! Oh, and Mum, don't worry, I've remembered to pack my earplugs!
Lots of love from us all,
xxxxx
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