Like a Bird in the Sky

My first flight, I think, was in 2006 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was a hang glider flight from Pedra Bonita with an instructor called “Zé da rampa”. It was fantastic! We flew for about 10 minutes but it was enough to know that I would like to do this in my life again some day.  After 1 year I flew again, but this time it was in Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil. This is where I live. This time I went paragliding and it was love on the first flight! I just loved the movements of paragliding - the “wing overs”, the spiral and the feeling in my stomach was just amazing. Right then, I decided: I will fly alone! But I didn’t have money in that moment of my life to learn and to buy a wing for me. I didn’t have time either because I was a Physical Education teacher at that moment. So I went to work on a cruise ship for 8 months. We cruised around the world but mainly in Europe and South America. During this job, I could save good money for the wing and the course. I then went back to Brazil with enough money and time to practice paragliding. I finally started the course and bought my first glider (in partnership with a friend).

I trained every single possible day. I was really addicted to paragliding and I wanted to fly since the very first class, but I was not as fast as I would like to be. I spent like one month training every day that was possible, sometimes with no nind, sometimes with a strong wind. I trained with my friend, with my instructor and sometimes alone. For hours, I was training. I really wanted to be flying as soon as possible.

After one long month, I finally went to the mountain to do my first flight. I didn’t know I was going to fly. My instructor told me that it would be just one more training, but it was not. I was a hundred percent ready to fly - physically, mentally and with all equipment, helmet, radio, harness and a friend’s wing. Then, I started to inflate the wing on the mountain. But in the mountains, the wind is different compared to that of the beach (where I used to train). Suddenly,  my feet were off the ground and I started to fly, alone, like a bird in the sky. It was just amazing, terrific and perfect! I was not afraid or scared - I was just enjoying that perfect moment of my life. It is one of the best moments ever. My landing was perfect and I did four flights in the same day! Lol!