Ratnagiri, India - April 1998
Exploration and free flying trip
This was a case where going on a trip, must take wing along’ paid off big time. A wedding at Pendurkar’s hometown. Malvan, a beautiful coastal district in Maharashtra. Amidst the traditional festivities that went on for 7 whole days we slipped out to the cliffs by the sea and were rewarded with laminar winds and hours of soaring over blue seas, desolate cliffs and white sandy beaches with only the busy swifts and a startled hornbill for company. Ratnagiri made it to our favorite list of flying sites in the Konkan region but we had no pic’s to show for it since the only camera we had leapt to a watery grave. December 2001 we directed Matthias Lie to this spot as he was southward bound after big adventure in Kamshet (that’s another story). His pictures are now featured below.
Bangalore, India - October 1999
Training Camp
Nirvana Adventures held a pioneering flying camp in Bangalore on public demand and conducted P1 courses for a number of PG enthusiasts. Training complete we checked out Nandi Hills and to our delight found it to be a great site to fly, with strong thermals abounding in the flatlands for miles round. We can safely assume that we were the first to fly from this awesome site (not counting the free fall of the enemies of Tipu Sultan a famed ruler of the South Indian state of Mysore (1782-99) who was known to hurl his enemies off this very rock face) Some of our Bangalore P1 students came to Kamshet within a few months to do a P2 course and acquire their own wings. We thus became responsible for setting up a nascent PG community in the garden city. Kenneth Pelander from Finland and Jon Garton from Australia were the first couple of pilots we sent in the Nandi direction. Since then we have facilitated a number of pilots flying trips in the south having put them in touch with Nirvana Pilots there.
Goa, India - December 1999
Training Camp
Goa – International travelers paradise & Millenium party destination. People from all over the world had flocked here to celebrate and the beaches were buzzing with excitement. With a lot of help from Rob & Debbs we set up shop on the beach and enticed a number of people to sample free flight. Six weeks of training & flying in idyllic Arambol. Sun, sand, surf and steady ocean breezes during the day and cool hangouts to look forward to after sunset. Lazy mornings on the beach, pilots bask in the sun and eventually head uphill to rise above the heat and soar on steady winds. After endless days of easy flying we began to get restless. We squeezed in an exploratory day trip to Vengurla and Amboli across the border into Maharashtra. Lulled by the calm winds, the sea and the surf, but tired of the sand in our wings and the easy flying we drifted back towards the heated plains and hillsides of Kamshet to indulge in more challenging wing activity.
Turkey - July 2000
Free Flying Trip
Oludinez and Babadag are familiar names to paraglider pilots the world over. Known as one of the best sites in the world with takeoff at 1969 m, perfect for SIV courses, with a beautiful beach to land on and all the tourist trappings of a seaside resort thrown in. This trip was dedicated to the pleasure of flying and learning. We paid homage to Babadag the father mountain, the blue skies, the sea & sands of Oludinez famed among the world PG community as the Saint Tropez of Turkey. 10 days of free flying and practicing maneuvers high over the ocean. Met up with old friends, made some new ones and had a great time. Babadag we will be back, we’ve made a promise to return.
MORE INFO ON TURKEY
Srilanka - June 2001
Training Camp
Invited by Ella Resorts to train some of their staff and guests and to study the pg potential of the central highland region. Friends & family were apprehensive about this trip due to the volatile situation on this beautiful country. But we were eager to take the opportunity to visit the legendary emerald island. Located 7 hours out of Colombo, the road to Ella winds through lush forests, tea plantations and elephant country. The area was flyable with roads leading up to clean takeoffs with glides down to the plains below and the only hazard being having to trek back up through elephant country if one did not have retrieval planned. Within a day of scouting we found a great training hill and began training the first batch of students. We also made a trip to Kandy the home of the temple of Buddha’s tooth relic and though it had immense flying possibilities there were security restrictions. It was a memorable experience. One that we will never forget. Weeks after our return Colombo airport was bombed and a large part of the Air Lanka fleet damaged.
Shivneri, Maharashtra - November 2001
Exploration and Free Flying Trip
After many days of sun and the sky at Kamshet we had gone across to Pune indulge in the sizzler & pub routine. Sachin had another agenda though and we found ourselves heading further inland to check out the fly-abilities of Shivneri fort. We trudged uphill in the late afternoon to reach this rugged fort whose popularity stems from the fact that it is the birthplace of the freedom loving Shivaji. We wandered amongst the impressive ruins, blown away by the equally impressive views as we scouted for a good takeoff point. Sachin flew with his camera and the great pic’s here are his contribution. The trip was made without any expectations but the flights were eventful. The site has great possibilities and we are definitely going back. Verdict – a promising XC site with a succession of ridges for as far as the eye could see. Definitely worth camping out here and exploring the possibilities for a few days.
More Flying Trips >>
TOP
