Flying like a bird

I already enjoyed the Sacred Valley with both feet on the ground during the tour to the Inca ruins and the traditional market. Now I wanted to see the amazing landscape from a different perspective; from the sky hanging from a parachute.

We got picked up at 08:30 in the morning and drove to Chinchero in the Sacred Valley. We first bought some snacks and drinks and then drove up to the take-off area at the cerro sagrado (sacred hill).

We sat down in the sun and watched our pilots prepare the equipment. They told us we had to wait for the wind to change (it was not strong enough) and that it could take a while. We enjoyed the beautiful view in the sun on top of the hill in the Sacred Valley and waited for the wind to change. Hours passed by and the wind remained the same, so we drove back to Chinchero to get lunch. We thought we would all have lunch together, but our pilots just dropped us off at some restaurants and told us they would come back in an hour…

After lunch we drove back up the hill in the afternoon hoping that the situation would be better.

We walked to the different sides of the hill to see if there was a difference in wind force. Eventually we found the right spot, we put on our flight suites, got attached to the parachutes and waited for take-off.

The parachute pulled us backwards several times, it was a real struggle not to fall down. After a few tries we could finally take-off! We ran down the slope of the hill until our feet could not touch the ground any longer, we were flying!

It was an amazing feeling, the ground far below us, a blue sky above us and the many mountains at the horizon. I saw birds flying with me, the snow-capped mountains and the little villages down in the valley with only the sound of the wind. We flew higher and higher for almost 30 minutes. Unfortunately it was time to land, we slowly descended towards the take-off place until we could touch the ground again. 

We packed all the equipment and drove back to Cusco. It was a long day but definitely worth it!

Flying was an incredible feeling, I definitely want to go paragliding again!