Feb 6th, 2015
Medellin served as a much needed stop-over for rest. But for Lucho, the night on the town lasted well into the morning with beer and local friends. He got his rest the next night.
After checking out of our first night's hotel, we started the day at Medellin's main mall where we charged up our Colombian SIM cards with two-week's worth of voice, text & data. The carrier of choice was Moviestar. Coverage lacked in the north where we are beginning our tour (Claro best here), but was the clear winner in the south, at Valle del Cauca.
This was a high, overcast day. The first planned flying site was Sopotran. But, since that drive took us north and away from our next accommodation, AND since thermic conditions were minimal, we decided to fly the town hill, San Felix.
The site is along a narrow, winding road high above the city, to the west. There are several restaurants/bars that cater to the PG scene here. The launches are on grassy, steep hillsides and use of the site required 5,000 COP (Colombian Peseo - about $2.50). We (almost) all had fun 15-20 minute sledders. Two decided not to launch in the very light conditions. Some birds were showing some lift, but even these skilled masters were occasionally flapping.
After a few beers found at a corner shop near the LZ, the retrieve van and Lucho's pickup truck scooped us up for the five-hour drive to out follow-on destination.
Along the way, the van's left rear wheel began making noise on the turns. Ike, with his years of trucking experience, urged the driver to pull over. He found three of the six lug nuts loose enough to turn with his fingers. Using an old trucker trick, he had the driver drive the inner tire of the dually up into some boards that he found, thereby lifting the outboard tire off the ground. A a number of turns with a lug wrench and we were back on our way. Thanks, Ike!
We pulled in to our new accommodation just prior to midnight. The place is called Cauca Viejo. More tomorrow on this amazing location.
Check back later for descriptive links and photos. Bandwidth at the time of posting is marginal.
Ike will be wanting a vacation after all that work.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the write ups. Need some pics when you can.