Chile: A Personal View
 We
hadn't been in northern Chile more than a few hours
and we were already flying at one of the most
beautiful sites I'd ever seen. It is called La
Portada, and is located 5 miles north of Antofagasta
along the rugged coast of the Pacific. Mike was the
first to launch followed by Reade, Denton, Rick,
Dave, Bob, and myself. Below the launch is a beach
popular with local youths. Our colorful wings put on
quite a show for the beach worshipers below, who had
their eyes on us constantly. The air was smooth as
we rode the ridge lift for hours until the sun
dropped to the sea.
Then we drove in to town and had a huge dinner
including steak, chicken, scallops, abalone, and
chitons. (Chitons are a mollusk that I've seen many
times scuba diving in Puget Sound, but I never
thought of eating one. A bit rubbery, but not bad)
Our next flight was along the coastal mountains. We
managed to fly from a hill called "Cactus Site" 15
km to La Portada, something never done by a
paraglider before. Spurred by our success, we
attempted another first. We wanted to fly 100 km
from "Lucky" to Tocopilla. Along the mountains the
thermals were quite strong, and at times
challenging, but were abundant enough to have us
thinking that a 20 mile flight was short. Only
"Downwind" Dave made it to goal, although everyone
did incredibly well. In fact, all of us had personal
record-breaking flights ranging from 41km to 100km!
A couple of days were spent in Tocopilla, a small
mining town tucked into the coastal range. Although
not a "tourist town", Tocopilla has some good
restaurants and a fantastic supermarket that was
just down the
street from our hotel. We stopped by daily for a
breakfast of juice and fresh bread. Towering over
Tocopilla is
the launch site from which the Chilean paragliding
distance record of 212 km was set. The idea of
setting a
new record was inspiring, but two valiant attempts
came up short.
For the next two days Mike, and our
driver/translator, Dan Morrison, led
us to more spectacular flying sites
that again tested our endurance. The Atacama Desert
is one of the
driest on earth, but the temperature is surprisingly
mild, usually about 75F. Flying high above the baked
ground was awe-inspiring. When we just couldn't fly
anymore, we'd land on one of the many beaches along
the route. Soon Dan would pull up in the van (which,
by the way, was carrying a cooler full of Escudo,
Dan's favorite beer) and load us up for a ride back
to town or to another flying site.
Our final destination was in central Chile.
Algarrobo is a beach-side town that has a
Mediterranean climate
 and
resembles southern California. We stayed in a
beautiful home only minutes
from coastal soaring sites. The flying in central
Chile was mellow and we appreciated the ease of the
light conditions. The
last day was spent in Santiago, Chile's largest
city, where we shopped for souvenirs and Christmas
presents. Then it was off to the airport where many
of us would have rather boarded a plane for
Tocopilla than Seattle and take another shot at that
elusive national record.
We flew nine soarable days in a row, with at least
one new site every day. I totaled over 100 km
distance and more than 12 hours in the air. Thanks a
lot to Mike Eberle and World Wide Adventure tours
for organizing a fantastic tour.
Tom Donohue, P4 Flight Design A6 and SXvt
usa
phone & vmail: +1 206 965 8184
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