Day 4 - Hang Gliding and Lunch

Before we left for Rio, our friends suggested hang gliding while we were there. Hang gliding has always been something I'd thought I'd like to try, though my fear of danger in general has kept me from ever seeking out an opportunity! I'm not a thrill-seeker, so this type of thing is WAY out of the norm for me. However, I dream of flying all the time (Sometimes I soar like a bird. Sometimes I'm Harry Potter on a broom chasing after the golden snitch.) and I figured hang gliding is about as close as I can get. So... I said yes!

We got up the 4th morning we were there, got in a taxi, and headed to a beach that was about 45 minutes from the hotel. Our hang gliding instructor met us there and took us over to a building where we signed our lives away before matching up with the instructors who would fly down with us.

The scenery around there was just beautiful.

Andy, Jill, Sascha, and I each got into cars with our instructors and rode up the mountain into a national park. (Jason and Luke waited at the bottom.) Our hang gliders were bagged up and strapped to the tops of the cars. At a point pretty high up on the mountain we stopped and put on the gear (helmet, harness, knee pads). The instructors gave us a quick lesson that basically involved the following instructions: Hold my shoulder with your left hand and this strap with your right. Run off the ramp, don't jump. Look to the horizon.

Andy went first off the ramp. As his hang glider soared back past the ramp, he squawked like a pterodactyl. It was so funny! Then Jill took off, followed by Sascha. Since all my friends were gone, and since all of them ran off without crying or freaking out, I decided I pretty much had to follow through and not chicken out. So the next thing I knew I had run off the ramp and was soaring through the air!

It was not what I expected. I think I expected a sort of dipping down and up sensation, but instead it was just like floating. I enjoyed it, BUT the instructor kept taking me higher and higher! This is usually thought to be a GOOD thing, but when you're a scaredy cat like me, not so much! He said, "Now we're 50 meters above the launch." Then a few minutes later, "See that flag on top of that mountain there? We're even with it, and it's 100 meters above the launch." Higher and higher we went. Finally I said, "I'm pretty sure no one ever asks you this, but... when do we get to go back down to the beach?"

Honestly, I was not sure that I would EVER get back down to the beach during those first 10 minutes or so! I tried to be a good sport and enjoy the view, but I kept thinking we were just going to keep on going up. Then I thought "There's nothing between me and the ground. If this thing snaps in two, they're NEVER going to find the pieces of me!" So my instructor was very kind and started to descend.

The view was incredible. There are some great pictures that the instructor took. You can see them by clicking here. Because I was too scared to move from the position he originally told me to take, I am stuck in the same pose throughout the flight. The backgrounds look fake, but I assure you, I really did run off that mountain!

Here are some of the photos Jason took. I think the three little specks in the sky are Andy, Jill, and Sascha. You probably can't see me because I'm up above those clouds. :/

Here's Andy just after he landed:

And Sascha:

(Somehow we don't have a picture of Jill when she landed.)

Here is a picture of me on my way down to the beach. This is probably right about the time when the instructor said "I'm going to unhook your knee from the harness and your body is going to move into a more upright position for the rest of the flight."

I said, "No you're not going to unhook me from this harness!"

He reassured me that he had to unhook me in order for me to be able to run on the beach for our landing. The rest of me would still be hooked in, but my knee would be free to run.

I don't remember the landing much, just that he told me he'd tell me when to start running. I didn't listen and tried running in the air for about 5 seconds before we landed. Pretty sure I looked like Wile E Coyote running in the air after he falls off a cliff... Oh well. I made it down safely!

I don't know that I'd say it was super fun - I think I was too scared - but I sure was glad I did it, and I'll never forget it!

When I got down, Jason went up and took his turn. As a life-long thrill-seeker, I'm pretty sure he was nonplussed by the experience. I'm sure sky diving is much more exciting!

After hang gliding, we were all starving and grumpy, but we decided to press on and head to the Christ the Redeemer statue before stopping to eat. When we got there, we had to walk for 15 minutes to get to a restaurant. Boy was I glad when it was pizza!

Andy and me

Jill and Andy

Jason and Sascha

Here are some more of Luke's pirate tattoos. You can see the pistol on his bicep here - Jason taught him to ask people, "You wanna see my guns?" and then flex!

Then he'd ask "You wanna see my pirate ship? You wanna see my sword?" and show the other tattoos, too.