Hanggliding in Rio [instagram]

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (04/26/15) - She's flat out afraid of heights and I admit I suffer from a mild case of acrophobia as well. So looking back on it now, I'm not sure why I don't remember any hesitation on our parts when we decided to go hanggliding in Rio months before our visit there. It could be because we saw pictures of my brother experiencing this amazing thrill ride several years back on his own visit to this city. Or I suppose the idea of seeing the photogenic city landscape of this city from high up is a once in a lifetime opportunity that makes this activity a "must do".

 

The actual experience didn't start out well. After being driven to the top of Pedro Bonita where hanggliders take off, rain started to fall and heavy fog blanketed the whole mountain. After an hour of waiting, we finally took off; her first, then me. While we were both nervous wrecks before take off, the flight itself was exhilarating beyond words. Soaring through Rio's skies and gazing at the Christ the Redeemer mountain and the coastline of the city from up top was incredible. Unfortunately, our tandem pilots took us down to the ground after only about 7 min; much less than the 15 min of air time we were hoping to get. They cited high winds as a factor but we knew that was bs. They were probably trying to make up for lost time from the delay since they had other clients waiting. Nonetheless, it was still an awesome experience that we were both thrilled were able to do.

Done