Hand gliding over Rio

Woke up this morning on my 2nd day and felt a bit crazy: today I am going hand gliding. The instructor picked us up at 1PM and drove us West through the richest neighbourhoods of Rio and the always adjacent favelas. We then drove up through the wonderful national parc of Tijuca (the largest urban forest in the world) and up to the top of the sugar loaf type of mountain from where we were gonna jump, 800m above the city.

The view from the top was absolutely amazing, a different angle on Rio from the day before. The sky today was a perfect blue, super clear, you could see all the islands surrounding Rio far, far away out at sea.

The islands were a good trick: when you start running down the ramp before the jump, focus on the islands and the islands only: 'If you look down you will get scared and stop running and it will be too late...'

1, 2, 3....off you go, stare at the islands on the horizon, run as fast as you can down the ramp... and relax. The first second was the scariest thing: the handglider has not caught the wind yet and you just fall down the mountain. But the moment the wind is caught the fun starts: no noise, complete silence and the beauty of Rio and the nearby beaches unfolding below. What a kick!

13mn later we landed smoothly on the wonderfull beach surrounded with gorgeous mountains. An experience not to forget. What best place to handglide than over the beautiful city of Rio.