Getting There and Going Where?

Feb 3rd, 2015

Ike & I left Honolulu on the early morning flight on Tuesday, two days before the official start of the tour. We decided to go to LAX, then Houston, and finally the red-eye 
to Bogotà (BOG). Of course, Ike had enough seniority through his better half to secure a first-class sleeper on the red-eye while I was shuffled off to a non-reclining exit row. There are no complaints from me, though. It was an outstanding value. 

We went early to synch with the time zone and also to give ourselves a few backup options, since we flew standby. The tour actually begins at Medellin, an hour WNW on a paid-for ticket (United only goes to BOG.). We hoped to use that ticket a day early... for free. Of course, why would any airline accommodate their customers when they can charge them? We ended up getting a cheap room with a shuttle service to the airport. Medellin will come mañana.

Here is the list of PG sites. From Medellin (Antioquia) , we work our way south over 2 weeks to Cali (Valle del Cauca) and then fly commercially to Bogotà to hit one last PG site and wrap up the tour. (At least I think that Cali-Bogotà will be a commercial flight.) 

---Medellín---

    San Felix

    Jericó

    Damasco

    Ansermanuevo

    Roldanillo

    Piedechinche

---Cali--->Bogotá

    Sopó

Here is a screen shot from Google Earth. We intend to bring each stop to life as we explore, familiarize and fly it for all it's got.

If anyone followed the 2015 FAI PG World's at Rolda last month, there was some great flying in Columbia. We are thrilled to try our skills in that same air. 

On the last post, when assigning USHPA's Calendar of Events, I noticed the Eagle Paragliding pros begin four weeks of guided Rolda trips this week. I'll be looking forward to dropping by their hotel and saying "hola" to Rob & Brad. Hopefully, we might even share a flight.

We plan to stay in fincas and immerse ourselves in the culture through our Colombian friends' insight and experience. Language skills will be a stumbling block for some of us, but we will overcome.