Cross Jardín Peñalisa

This cross country flight has been one of the highlights of my time in Colombia. Amazing views, technic flight and overall a beautiful way to see this country. Here is the story (sorry it's a bit technical and long, but there is nice photos :) ).
The track

In the morning we went to take off with a strong will to go cross country flying. However, looking at the cloudy sky I told Geo, hmm this is gonna be a day for cyber cafe and reading. So we sat and waited for a while enjoying a fresh avocado while chating with the locals. After an hour seating on take off, the sky started to open up a little and a few thermic cycles showed up. We watched the other pilots take off and go nearly straight down to the landing zone without finding much uplift. Not really encouraging. Nevertheless we prepared our glider and decided to still put some warm clothes on, which was wise given the flight we had after.

The ride up to take off

We took off into what we thought was the best cycle, but my first impression was ohhh sh*t, there is nothing here for us. I ended up at 80m above the ground in a position that would not even allow me to reach the landing zone when I saw a few birds thermalling up. Straight away I pushed on speed bar and reached the thermal. With a lot of concentration I made my way up and I was quickly above take off again. Geo managed to get into the same thermal and it took us above 3000m. Now we could think and relax a little.
I decided to go for the same route that we took the day before and just managed to pass the first col in pretty turbulent conditions. There I saw Geo struggling to follow me and fighting in broken lift. This was the end of the flight for him. Just after the col I found a thermal that got me once again above 3000m. The view opened up, it was magical. I was happy to have my jacket and some trousers!

Then I got a low point above a town called Buenos Aires on the plateau. I thought I was done when I found another unexpected lift that enabled me to carry on. At this point I knew I was going to do better than the day before.

Buenos Aires

I managed to get to the next slope and struggled there for a bit. Once again I have been massively helped by the birds who showed me the view. At this point I was really close to the steeps slopes covered in coffee plants. I was able to see every detail, every house, say Hi! to people. It was like hiking, but without effort and with a lot more fun.

The next jump to the bigger ridge was fairly easy, but once passed 2800m I was finding a strong easterly met wind (about 25km/h) which was making my progression to the north difficult. It was strange to fly on the west facing slopes with a easterly wind, but it was working well! There the view started to be even more magical.

I continued to make my way in zig zag (due to the easterly wind), staying up high, towards the north and the big mountains. After Hispania, it was beginning to be a bit more technical as the landing options started to be scarce.

Hispania

Big mountains in front

I was confident that I was high enough to pass the mountains, but when I got close I found myself in severe sink. I was lee side of the mountains for two reasons: the breeze coming from the valley at the north and the met wind from the east. The situation wasn't very comfortable and I didn't wait long to get a good half wing collapse with 2/3rd of speed bar. Waw sensations! I thought of turning back, but the desire to see what was on the other side of the mountain pushed me forward. I made it just above the col, and there the valley opened up. Beautiful! But I thought "it better work" as down there it was only thick vegetation and steep slopes!

After the col, the reward!

There it was really wild. Only a few houses on super steep slopes. The type of places you will never visit on a "classic" trip to Colombia.

Mountain house

Over the valley, the nice breeze took me up and the river Cauca appeared. It was really incredibe to hear all the noises from the jungle under my feet. At this point two eagles showed my the way of the last thermal. What an exhilarating moment. I knew I was going to be able to reach civilization at this point and I just relaxed making my down towards the Cauca valley.

Affluent to the river Cauca 

El Pico

River Cauca and Peñalisa

River Cauca

As I was approaching the football pitch in Peñalisa, a herd of kids starting to run and shout. It is always a pleasure to see a group of kids super exited by the ovni landing in their back garden.

Running kids

My new friends

The packing crew