Born to fly

by Alberto Navarro (Peru)

Making a local connection Colombia

One, two, Three! After that signal we started to run down the hill until we reach the ravine and jump. I started yelling loud and my heart was beating so fast like it was going to explode. I opened my eyes and I was impressed, contemplating the amazing landscape: the buildings of the city that were so far away surrounded by the green mountains and the intense blue sky. I had reached my dream of flying over the mountains of Medellín! One of the goals that I had since I arrived in this city. Suddenly, Gustavo, the paraglider pilot, started waving his arms and we started to go up and down so fast like a roller coaster. I had a sensation how if my soul had left my body. I breathed deeply and calmed down. But Gustavo leaned the paraglider 45 degrees and we started fell down in spiral as if we were sucked into a hurricane. I just screamed until my fear faded away. Gustavo pointed to a white church that was on a mountain above “El Voladero”, the port of the paragliders —Do you see that church over there on the mountain? —Yes! Sure, I said. —That is the church of my village, I was going to pray there —And how did you do to start to do paragliding? —When I was a teenager, after mass, I liked to lie down on the grass and I was amused looking at the different colored spots that were on the sky, I thought they were angels, but one day I followed them, I arrived until “El Voladero” and I figured out that the points were not angels!, they were people like you or me. They had a kind of parachute that they controlled with the movement of some threads. They ran down the hill, jumped off the cliff, and then they were flying. Like birds! From that moment, every weekend after milking the cows and harvesting some tubers in the afternoon, I went to “El Voladero”. I helped some people carrying their equipment, water, or whatever favors they wanted. After few months one of them asked me if I wanted to fly. I was so happy and we went to "Salto del Sapo", that was another place for training. —And why didn't you practice at El Voladero? I asked. —Because It was necessary an special document like a driving license. But now I even have my own equipment. and my driving license also. Rodrigo the man who recommended to you the paragliding agency where I work is the man who lent me his equipment. —He is the man about Salto del Sapo? —Yes!, he met me since I was a “sardina”, a teenager, now I'm 22, thanks to him I learned to fly —He says that you are the best paraglider pilot in Medellín. —I don't know if I’m the best, but I've won several championships. Now I just do this as a part of my life. My routine is to get up early, go to pray at church and then go to the agency to do people fly Gustavo performed one last trick, when we finally land I realized that I had had the best conversation over the sky in Medellín. Rodrigo was waiting there. He offered me to leave me at the train station since it was near to his house. I accepted but I had some misgiving about how I met him so I asked him. —Rodrigo if you have a taxi, why did you take a bus to El Voladero station? He told me that after he gains the enough money to cover his bills He flies. But that day the wind blew so hard that he landed so far so he took the bus where I met him. After some minutes we arrived at the train station. I hugged to him in a fraternal way as if he were the grandfather I would have liked to have. I went to Medellín with the target of flying over their skies and I went back learning how to unfold my own wings to fly over my own sky.