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Rio - The last 48 hoursFeb 22, 2007
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Cheeky boyz
Landing strip for hang gliding
Sugar loaf and locals beach
| After doing a lot of group activities it was time to enjoy some of the more typical sites in our last 48 hours in beautiful Rio.... watching the sunset from sugar loaf, dining in some fine restaurants in Ipanema and of course hang-gliding. If you ever have the hankering to go hang-gliding, Rio is definitely the number one spot in the world to do it. Even though we had made it through the entire week without being robbed, pickpocketed, mugged etc. there were still a few times where we felt rather exposed, ripped off and spun some lies or sales pitches. The best one was being convinced to go paragliding rather than hang-gliding as apparently the flight would last a lot longer due to the wind conditions on the day. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that they have limited hang-gliding pilots to meet the carnival demand. (Yeh right!) The non English speaking paragliding pilot was an adrenalin junkie who drove like Schumacher up the windy narrow road to the launching area, burning his clutch and tyres on the way and stalling a couple of times due to lack of petrol. Then another crazy adrenaline junkie came down the hill round the blind corner, slammed on his brakes and slided into the side of our car, while his front door swung open and slammed into the front of our car. Neither adrenaline junkie bothered to get out of the car to check the damage, but some heated words were exchanged and then we continued up the hill, tyres screaching and smoking as if nothing had happened. We finally got to the top, both feeling physically sick. Ten minutes later, without any instructions whatsoever Heidi was strapped into the harness and walking off the side of the mountain in tandem with the crazy pilot behind. A few steps, the parachute lifted and within seconds Heidi was carried away for a birds eye view of the most expensive areas in Rio, funnily enough bordered by Rocinha (the largest favela in Rio). Once Heidi's flight was finished the crazy driver packed the chute and drove back up for Sams flight. When we met at the bottom we were both disappointed and pissed off. It was an amazing experience flying over Rio, but the combination of the drive up there, the lack of instructions and the fact they had convinced us to go paragliding was eating at both of us. We took a trip up to sugarloaf to experience the most safe and picture perfect postcard vista. Watching the sunset and the lights come on was everything you could ever imagine and hope of Rio. We even managed to find a quiet spot to sip some fine caiparinhas and savour every moment with Christ Redeemer lit up in the distance. It was the first time we could relax all week and let our guard down. After a few caiparinhas we agreed to go back to the hang-gliding place, and ask for a free flight, with Sam using his sales techniques.. Of course we weren't so successful, but received a small discount, a couple of good pilots straight away who spoke English, didn't drive like maniacs, and who gave us complete instructions before rigging us up. The take off along with the sensation of flying like a bird was brilliant. The landing a on the beach a little hairy but all the same an experience never to forget. After a successful flight we spent the afternoon enjoying the beach we had just flown over, managed a run around the lake near Ipanema followed by a typical Brazilian steak dish. Safe and sound we made it through one week in Rio, the only thing unscathed our wallets.., the most expensive week for the trip! |
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