Jardín

Jardín, another little paradise lost in the middle of the mountains!

We headed to this quiet town at 3 hours (in theory) south of Medellin after another party packed stay in the city. Arriving at the bus terminal a guy in uniform gave a strange look to our backpacks and came to speak with us. At first we were a bit frighten that it will be another military or policeman that will ask us to empty all our bags. But it turned out differently, this guy was a bus driver, the driver of our bus and he was intrigued because he was a paragliding pilot as well. All good, still in Medellin we already had a plan for accomodation and a contact for paragliding in Jardín.

Main Square in Jardín

In Jardín, it was funny to hear the sound of horses as we were going to the cafe. Men were casually going places on their horses. Including the bar where they would not even go down their ride to enjoy a shot of Ron. The feel in the village was super relaxed, their was many people out on the terrasses to enjoy a coffee at night. Mainly locals and Colombian tourists. We were lucky that this jewel is not yet mentioned in any of the main tourist guides. If you read this, I highly recomend you to go to this place, but keep it for yourself, it is a secret spot :) .

The paragliding scene in Jardín was as usual super welcoming and maybe even more due to remotness of the place. The site was absolutely stunning with a beautiful grassy take off and a view over the village.

Geo on take off

We had 3 days of amazing flying. Including some top class cross country flights (finally). The first day I managed a little tour of the valley in the morning and then a short but stunning cross country with Geo in the afternoon. It was Geo's first proper cross country and what a place to do tha! Flying together on this distance flight was exhilarating. We flew over steep terrain and coffee plantation in strong thermic conditions, a good training.

Jardín from above

Coffee packed slopes

Dinosaure back

Geo in flight

Fincas

The second day I managed one of my best flights. Not in term of distance, but in term of technic, commitment and views. I think I will make a quick article only for this one.

Take off preparation

The last day, the weather wasn't the best, so we decided to head into the Jungle with the local pilots to get to a higher take off called the "Ninja take off". The ride was as usual bumpy and rythmed by salsa.

Happy driver

When we arrived to the so called take off, we quickly understood where the name was coming from. No space to run, a side slope and the Jungle as security net. The first pilot took off in not even five minutes with impressive skills. Geo and I were looking at each other with sweaty hands and beating hearts. One of the Colombians missed his take off and ended up down in the bushes. Our driver found that very funny and laughed out loud seeing this fail. The tension was building up for us!

On the Ninja take off

Geo managed to get airborne after his second attempt. For me it has been another story. I was last on take off with our happy driver and another help. I did 3 failed attempts with two of them where I ended up swearing in French down in the bushes for the pleasure of our driver. Luckily I only got out with a few scratches and no damage on the material. The fourth was the good one for me. And I finally reached the ground for a beer.

The next day we headed to the famous Valle del Cauca passing by a dirt road in the Jungle with a massive bus, thrilling ride!

Service station, no Burger King here!

Bonus:

Night show over the choco region