We first met up with our group (the total being 7 of us) and drove to the sacred valley (about an hour away from Cusco) to this beautiful location
Yes that cliff right there is the one we ran off of :)
So only two people can go at a time, and the first group went out with a bang! However, once everything was set up for the second group to go (my group!) the wind conditions were not optimal so we had to wait about an hour to go (no biggie, I was psyched to be next).
Here are some cool pics pre-take off
so as we are attempting to take off, the wind changed all of a sudden and the parachute crashed and burned... here is a funny video (jk it didn't work, so ill try again later)
The flight began and it was awesome!! (same thing, Internet in Peru is not the fastest)
Here are some in-flight pics
Ok, so while were in the air, I started to feel a little motion sickness.... you know the feeling where you lose your stomach on a roller coaster? Ya, that happened like 50 times. I was trying to not let it get to me and just enjoy the views, but after it kept building up for 25 minutes, I finally admitted that I wasn't feeling so well. So we started to make the descent.. Anyone who has para glided before knows that to get down, you have to go in circles. Well I ended up throwing up in air! SOOOO GROOSSSSSS I know. I felt so bad for the guy behind me as he kept calling out "other side please" (rofl).
As we were landing, we barely missed the grassy field and landed in a pile of manure and sticks, which only made the situation of me throwing up on myself even funnier.
Ok, I first want to say that I have NEVER had a problem with motion sickness before. I hate to say it, but I am getting older.
Besides being in a field of manure, it was pretty cool to land in a field of sheep and donkeys
At the point where we finally returned to the group from our landing site, all I wanted was water. I would like to note that we checked and double checked with our travel agency that water and snacks were included on this all day journey. When I asked if I could have some, they said they didn't have any. (Its around 1:30 at this point). They then take us to the town near by and drop us off at an expensive restaurant for lunch, which was not included. Anyways, we are all students and volunteers so we didn't really want to spend too much so we ended up walking to another store where I got some water (it tasted soo good guys). When we finally met up with our guide we asked if snacks and water were included like it said in the brochure, and they said no. All of us were confused and feeling a little frustrated because we had checked to make sure so we knew what to bring and what would be included. However, the people who had taken us were contracted out from our travel agency so we knew it wasn't their fault. Still, we were a little sad that we were told differently.
We then went back to the take off site because there were still 3 more people that had to go. The wind was craaaazy so we ended up sitting there until 5:00 (it gets dark at 6). They ended up flying even though the wind conditions were crazy, and I was soo grateful that I went earlier. We were just happy that everyone was able to go, even if we sat allll day. We ended up getting home at like 7:15. Brigham was on the phone about to call the travel agency because he was worried, so he was very happy that I was home safe, even if I had a disgusting stain all over my shirt (the same shirt I had worn for 7 hours after I threw up).
All in all, I was glad I had the experience, but I do wish that we went through another travel agency and that we went with a smaller group. Also, if you have motion sickness, think twice before going paragliding :)
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