JJ's Travelogue

So a few days ago Uyen and I decided to be real adventurers and go spelunking in the morning followed by paragliding in the afternoon. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The caving was not quite the same level of adventure as I experienced in Guatemala, but it was still fun. It turned out Uyen and I were the only tourists on the outing. A couple of locals tagged along with their dog, which I’m not sure was the greatest idea. He was a crazed puppy, and kept going berserk down there. I think he was mostly having fun, but freaked out at times. Uyen got a big scratch on her back from his paws. After that we kept our distance.

Unlike in Guatemala, we wore helmets which turned out to be smart, because some of the passages were quite tight. Challengingly tight.. uncomfortably tight.. and I’m not claustrophobic. There was one stretch for about 20m where we had to crawl on our bellies like snipers, with not even enough room to get on our knees. Uyen kept grossing me out by talking about all the rat poo and other filth we were crawling through. The water and mud was pretty nasty. Our guide pointed down one passageway that would require this type of locomotion for 60m. We were glad we signed up for the short tour.

But the section that really required meditation to keep from panicking was where there was only about 6″ of air between the water and the ceiling. As you were floating along, you had to tip your head far back so that your mouth was right above the water level in order to keep breathing.. all the while knocking your helmet and head lamp to and fro. It was a bit too far a distance to simply hold your breath.

Our guide was good, but a little cavalier. I wonder what he would have done in an emergency, whether he had any training for that. It’s always amazing to me the things that can live in caves. We came across little plants growing out of a mound of bat guano. The leaves were green, although they couldn’t have been photosynthesising – they were hundreds of metres from sunlight. Bats are strange beasts, too – they sleep in little piles all clumped together, hanging on by a thread. At first you think it’s just one bat, but then one will fly away and you’ll realize it was three or four. Yet another example of animal polyamory, I suppose.

One large chamber had beautiful crystal formations on the ceiling. There were small waterfalls, and I’m glad we didn’t attempt this trip after a rainstorm, or it would have been that much more challenging. You could almost watch the stalactites and stalagmites growing right before your eyes. Amazing what water can do. The flowstones gave a wonderfully deep, resonant sound when knocked upon. I wonder if any percussionists have ever performed music on these things. Seems like a great place to hold a concert.

I for one was overjoyed to emerge from the cave into the warm sunlight and green grass of terra firma. It was cold and dank down there! After changing our clothes back at the tour office, we had a short walk through the tiny town (Curiti) and had lunch at the one restaurant, which was really somebody’s house. A complete meal for very cheap. The paragliding folks came driving by and found the only gringos in town, picking us up to go to the top of the hill for our next adventure..

Uyen and I were joined on this one by Sarah, a Scottish girl we had met at the hostel a couple of nights earlier. Sarah has an interesting job – she’s an engineer on oil derricks off the coast of Angola. I can’t even comprehend how brutal that job must be.

It was a beautiful day for paragliding – warm, sunny, and most importantly, windy. It took me a while to realize that we would be landing right where we took off from. The only experience I’d had with this sort of thing was when I went hang gliding in Rio when we were there on tour in 2004. That was fantastic, and I hoped this would be similar. Because you land where you take off and not in the valley below (as in hang gliding), there was only need for one paraglider for the three of us – we took turns. Uyen went first, which Sarah and I were glad for. The pilot ends up hanging above you operating the controls while you’re strapped into a comfy chair below him. We each had a heavy sandbag strapped to us as well – I guess we’re too lightweight without it.

We could hear Uyen’s screams as the pilot did some spectacular spirals reminiscent of a roller coaster. They disappeared behind trees and just when we thought they’d crashed, they majestically rose into the clouds. Each run was about 20 minutes or so. For twice the price, we could have taken a much longer tour through the entire valley. But we all agreed the amount of time was perfect. I was most impressed with the landing – I thought we would have to clear the entire hill, and they would come running down. Instead, the pilot gently eased down exactly where he intended to. A helper on the ground got the chute down so it didn’t pull them back up again. After Sarah had a go (which went equally as smoothly), it was my turn.

I guess Murphy has been following me around recently, for I did not have quite as smooth a time of it. First, we had a bit of trouble getting off the ground. We would start to lift off, then the wind would die, the chute would fall, the lines would tangle, we would get jumbled around. Somehow in the midst of all this, my pinkie toe got snagged (not knowing any better, I was wearing sandals. Actually, they did tell me those would be fine to wear..) For about 12 hours afterwards I thought it might have been broken based on the amount of pain and swelling, but now I think it was just the nail that bent back. No harm done.

Once we were airborne, it was surprisingly not scary. Except, of course, when he did the zero-G spirals. That I didn’t like so much. You can hear me muttering, “oh shit, oh shit” in the video. Any more of that and I might have heaved onto the cows below. One thing that worried me a bit was when I looked up and noticed they were using non-locking carabiners – a definite no-no in my business when handling human loads. But the rest of the gear looked good. The overall experience was not as calm and peaceful as I remember hang gliding being. With the paraglider, I felt more at the mercy of the vagaries of the wind. I suppose the hang glider is stiffer, so it’s a smoother, more gentle ride. Still, I would love to learn to pilot either one. Being able to fly has always been a dream of mine.

As it turned out, Murphy was in the wind when it came time to land as well. The first time we tried, we bounced right back up again, and the pilot yelled to the guy below to let go so he didn’t get carried away with us (he was trying to add his weight to keep us down). The second time we landed all right, but then a gust of wind came along and dragged us along the ground for about 20′ or so. Which would have been fine if it was just grass, but it was pebbly dirt, and with the weight of everything on me the right side of my body got scraped up. Wounds will heal, but the thing I’m bummed about is that my nice pants got torn up. I was wearing my nice pants because my other ones had gotten trashed in the morning’s activities! (As my T.D. in college would tell us as we were carrying a scenery flat, “remember – people heal, scenery doesn’t.”) Still, it could have been much, much worse. I wonder if more professional outfits handle things differently. Medellin is meant to be the best place to paraglide in Colombia, so maybe I’ll try it again there in a few weeks. Wearing proper footwear this time.

About the videos:
Uyen kindly shot video of me from the ground. I shot video from the seat.
If you’re on a slow connection, you may have to wait a minute for them to load. I’ve been experimenting whether I should use Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media, or what format. Let me know how (if) they play for you.

After my first aborted attempt, this is me finally taking off. The beginning looks like a Charlie Chaplin video:  Here is the direct download to the video if you don’t have QuickTime installed or it won’t play in the window below.

Next we have a long one shot from the air. You can imagine my full range of emotions:  Here is the direct download

Next, the landing as seen from afar (although the video cuts off before I’m mercilessly dragged): Here is the link to download the video if the window below doesn’t play.

Finally, the landing from my perspective. Next time I’ll narrate it more. And get the camera out from under all the fabric. I was a bit distracted in the moment:  Here is the direct download