Navigating Colombia: Pal Takats

In 2011, I bought a motorbike and traveled 3,500 kilometers through Colombia and visited some nice places. And the people are very open and they are very happy. And what is kind of like a little bit of a culture shock for Europeans or Westerners, I think, is like in Europe, when you agree to meet at 12, then you're going to meet at 12, maybe five minutes later, but not the next day at 12, you know. Actually, one of my good friends, Aaron Maldonado, he was telling me funny stories about them living in this house up on the mountain. And there was a small community and they were living up there. And sometimes the guerrilla came in with, you know, the armed people. No way. Yeah. It was in the early 90s, I think.

So that time was over with the death of Pablo Escobar. And luckily from there on, they went uphill. it became safer and safer. And the slogan of the country's tourism was, Colombia, the only danger is wanting to stay. Wow,

that's creative. The only danger is that you wanted to stay. And indeed, what's happened to me. Yeah, I recommend everybody to come and visit this lovely country and then experience your own story to tell about Colombia.

Aninder: Picture this. As you savor a hot cup of morning coffee, you relish not just the flavor, but also the anticipation of the flight ahead. Now imagine doing this in a land of ancient civilizations, where intact ancestral and indigenous cultures breathe life into the vibrant heritage of the region. Here you can inhale the purest air from the lush rainforests brimming with diversity, dive into a river of five colors, or perhaps maybe even into a sea of seven. Take in the rich scent of coffee and vibe to the unique rhythms of salsa and joyous festivals. It's a place where the wind whispers to the mountains that there is something new to be known. In this extraordinary land, the ever-present Andes

unfold like guardian giants, inviting you to take to the air through the heart and skies of this paragliding heaven in the Southern Hemisphere.

A grand welcome to all the listeners of this very first episode of Paragliding Atlas. Today, we're going to talk all things needed to practice the art of flight in Colombia, a paraglider's dream. Here, every thermal and every updraft whispers tales of ancient civilizations. It's as if there's a storyteller in the wind, and as you soar, you become a part of the narrative. Once known for civil wars and a rich but traumatic history, Colombia has transformed itself into one of the most welcoming nations in the South American continent. And there's much, much more than what Netflix has told us. And today, we're going to find out exactly what makes it one of the most sought-after

destinations for paragliders of all skill levels, and all that you need to know to touch the sky with glory in Colombia, the country of beauty. But before we proceed, just a little bit of a disclaimer. This interview was recorded on a very tight schedule and on a very beautiful flying day. So needless to say, both me and our guest Paul were looking to get some airtime as soon as we finished. Now this rush led to some background noise creeping in here and there and some topics could not get as much attention as we had initially planned to. Regardless, here is our very first attempt to get this show going as we strive to learn and improve in this journey while bringing you valuable insights from various

destinations around the globe. So stay tuned and stay excited because the magic has just begun. And without further ado, let's dive right in and let's get this started.

Well, To all our listeners, today we have a very special guest with us. This person has called Columbia his home and is pretty much living the dream that all of us paragliders wish to one day. Make it so sustainable, live in a place where you get a tan and fly endlessly as long as you want. And it's really warm as well. We have one of the most amazing person in our sport of paragliding, Paul Tuckerts. Paul, massive thanks for being with me. Thank you so much. Welcome to Paragliding Atlas. My name is Aninder and let's get this going. Let's get this started. Thank you for your invitation. You're welcome. So, Paul, basically a lot of people know you as an acro pilot and someone who has gone ahead and pushed the

limits every time you wanted to and succeeded in it. When you decided to move to Southern Hemisphere and you decided to call this beautiful place your home, how did this come into your life and what eventually made you do it? Yeah, it was a longer process. I visited South America in

2006 for the first time when I went to Brazil and already this first trip I spent three and a half months there, even had to extend my visa because I liked it so much. And basically, yeah, then I went back to Brazil once or twice and in 2011...

yeah actually 10 to 11 that was exactly for Christmas time I was in Brazil again and then after New Year's Eve I went to Colombia I was invited for my first World Cup like paragliding World Cup with a white card because I haven't done any high-level events before and I really wanted to get into World Cup flying and And the organizer, Lucho Jimenez, he had a chance to give me a wild card and so I went. And yeah, it was a really nice experience, something different. In fact, every South American country has its own magic I think like but one thing is in common what I

find is the people are very open and they are very happy and in general I think more happy with the little what they have than most Europeans who basically have everything they need and want and that kind of yeah that was something nice to see and it was a different kind of way of living and but even though in this first trip already that in 2011 I bought a motorbike and traveled 3500 kilometers through Colombia and visited some nice places and actually I just looked at some of these pictures a few days ago looking for other pictures and I saw that I was actually taking pictures of some for sale um signs so i was already kind of thinking about it but in the end somehow what is kind of like a little bit

of a culture shock for europeans or westerners i think is is uh Like the people are almost too open, too direct. It's something that is very different to Western countries. And sometimes it's just overwhelming. And because they are all so open and direct, sometimes you don't really know... Like who is actually a person who you can trust because everybody's like, hey, my friend. Then, you know, immediately they kind of open up. And so everybody is very friendly and open. But I think maybe it's a bit harder to... to know exactly who your friends are. And in general, I must be honest, maybe South Americans are not necessarily the easiest people to trust in terms of like sometimes,

yeah, you think you have somebody trust, but in the end and something happens or it's just because it's more like associated to this time Like in Europe, when you agree to meet at 12, then you're going to meet at 12, maybe five minutes later, but not the next day at 12, you know. Or when somebody doesn't show up, then at least they call or they apologize or, you know. And so, yeah, long story short, there are certain things that are really nice compared to like Europe and certain things that are very different. And you need to either kind of just accept it or learn to live

with it or maybe at some point just assimilate and begin to understand what and why is happening. So anyways, I kept going back to Colombia since my first trip and I was doing some competitions there.

And in 2017, I went with my back then girlfriend, now wife, and we visited this new place that I didn't know myself. But it's in the same, this Cauca Valley, which is the most commonly visited and flown area. And before I always been to Roldaneo, Roldaneo, Roldaneo, all the competitions and everybody was just talking about Roldaneo. But indeed this other place that some friends were telling about that we need to know about. And so my friend and I, we flew from Roldaneo to Pidecinche. I think it's probably the most beautiful flight in the valley. Either way, you go from Rolda to Pidecinche. to Piracinche or the other way around, it's a nice one-way flight and it's 100 kilometers approximately.

And yeah, we landed there and these mountains are beautiful, like jungle covered mountains and there is no big town around, not like in Roda Neo where you have basically all the people staying in this town it's a small town and it's a loud town and I really prefer kind of being on the countryside and a bit more quiet and somehow quite quickly we realized that it's a nice place and back then I was already like I had a little bit of savings and I was looking for a place to to buy somewhere but I was actually Colombia was not necessarily on my list at that point but

um the next day we already like started to look for like just try to figure out what uh would be possible to to acquire there and um We only had two days there, but then we came back again just before going back to Europe, spend another night there. And yeah, basically, I found this place which also had a takeoff. And then like a month later, I came back to Colombia and tried to buy that spot, but that didn't work out because it didn't really have the legal documentation that... You as a foreigner, yeah, so it was not clear and it was like, I felt like they were going to

screw me over. Probably not, but it would have been complicated and you don't want to get into this kind of things as a foreigner. So then again, like, oh no, you know, this... This didn't work but I still had a few days left so I kept looking, kept looking, kept looking and I found this other place. So I extended my stay again and within one week I signed the documents for this other place that was quite crazy and actually it was way more expensive than I originally planned to spend. But my wife also had some money on the side and so we put it together and I'm really happy

that we did because...

Well, it's a really nice place and the local community is nice and the flying there is really nice. And I mean, we have our own takeoff and this place to top land. That is the biggest luxury, isn't it? How then you're living on a takeoff? How much

Aninder: better does life get than that? Yeah, I mean, it's not a takeoff where anybody should go from, because it's low and it's a little bit, yeah,

it's a little bit technical. But since I learned to fly in Hungary from really low hills, I think so. for me the elevation is still kind of good and there are many birds flying around all the time so they show you the thermals so you have to wait until you see I mean that would be the safe option to wait until you see them climb somewhere in front and then you take off but Yeah, it's a tricky place to go from, but since then, actually last year, or was it this year, actually, I did the longest flight. Exactly, I remember that. I mean, not straight line, it's over

three points because I went to the north and then came down to the south. And it's quite funny because, you know, everybody's going to Rode and Ewe because there you can take off at nine o'clock because it's an east phase. but yeah indeed uh from the other side of the rally facing west i was able to pull this flight off and that was quite amazing and i'm really happy yeah with basically yeah this investment and and and and since then um yeah because it was a big decision and um of course our families were not necessarily happy about us Moving halfway across the world. I mean, we are still going as a tourist with just a tourist visa, but they are quite generous. They give you three months when you enter and then

you can get another three months pretty much for free and easily.

But since then, like, yeah, things went quite ballistic. I think I probably contributed to this a little bit or maybe more. But the place was already kind of getting popular with several tour operators coming there because it's really close to Cali airport. um the the groups come into cali even paragliding groups or yes no no paragliding yeah it was already a tandem like pretty big tandem operation going on and a few local pilots but um yeah maybe two or three groups were coming by just a few days and then they continue to other places from there or finish their their tour there yeah usually they start there and finish there because it's a an easy place to to to start and uh very safe and and and um

and you know easy take off easy landing and And so people get acclimatized to well and the jet lag. So it's a good place to start and then they usually go. But since then, some groups just come there and stay there because people like it so much. And yeah, really the local community grew because people from other like locals, Colombians from other parts of the country, they begin to move there. Also a friend with his school moved there. So... the activity has grown a lot and many pilots also have both land there but now it's actually quite expensive like even for european standards yeah it's a bit crazy it's unfortunate because i was hoping that we're gonna get more kind of pilot neighbors

but um at least at the moment it's uh it's difficult to to buy or find something affordable i see i see But let's say I recently saw a post of

Aninder: yours, as you mentioned, you did a three-point flight from your takeoff. And also, I remember seeing this tiny little update of yours saying that flying down to my neighbor's house for tea or breakfast or something like that. Now, like everybody dreams of this, right? Like anybody who flies a paraglider is like, okay, I want to wake up, fly out, come back and maybe fly down to my neighbor's place as well. In real world, how often does this happen in the place where you live? Like how often do you get the possibility to make this actually happen? You mean

that the big flight, the 250 kilometer flight or... I mean, yeah, something as rewarding as that, which kind of like, okay, you know, I go

Aninder: there, I do AXE, get fulfilled, come back, or something as small as just flying down to my neighbor's house, grabbing a cup of coffee. That is

rewarding in itself, I believe. Yeah, I think that's probably possible every morning as long as the... No way. Yeah, if the wind is not coming from the south, then... Yeah, but it's really a stupid, silly little flight and it's like a 10-15 second over this little valley and target landing in his backyard. But that morning I had an appointment with that guy and I thought like either I have to drive up and down or I just fly. But the big flight, I mean, that's in any case, like anywhere in the world where you where you want to fly kind of like a record. Of course, you have to wait for the best day and you have to keep on trying over and over again.

And basically, yeah, that's what I did. So actually, yeah, I haven't really tried many times. And my idea was only to try to fly to Sarsal and back, which would have already been a new record for Pidecinca, 200 kilometers out and return. But when I came back, I just saw this beautiful line of clouds with the backwind pushing me so I decided to not close the triangle but basically just continue as far as I could and yeah I was kind of lucky as well because

It's kind of rare to have good conditions all day long, and especially when you travel significant distances, then you might have good conditions in one area, but then maybe you may overdevelop in another. The atmosphere is dynamic, so it kind of moves. And especially in Colombia, it's very tropical and there are a lot of clouds. And yeah, often there is shower in the afternoon. So that was kind of lucky for sure. Yeah, I see. So let's say now we have an idea about how your romance started with this beautiful country, you know, let's say from the first

Aninder: X-Alps, as the first X-Alps went and kind of you found your own location and then you went there and found your own thing for 10 years, kept on going. Eventually, let's say there's an average Joe who wants to mimic this and who wants to chase a similar kind of flying in Colombia. How did paragliding even start? Can you give our listeners a bit of an idea? What is paragliding in Colombia and how did it begin in the early days and how did things happen? Yeah, so I don't remember the exact details anymore or which year, but it certainly started in a surprisingly early times

that... Some people begin to bring paragliders into the country and actually one of my good friends, Aaron Maldonado, who is also living in Peterchinchin, he was one of the first ones to start flying and actually he was telling me funny stories about them living in this house up on the mountain and I know there was a small community and they were living up there and sometimes the guerrilla came in with, you know, the armed people. No way. Yeah. Uh, because it was still quite, um, yeah, like a guerrilla controlled area. Around what year is this? I think it was like, uh, it was in the early nineties, I think. Ah, I see. Well, wild, wild, no lace. Damn. And, um, So at some point they even had to leave

there. But then around the 2000s, the guerrilla kind of moved back deeper into the mountains and this area was then more accessible. And somehow the sports started to grow in different hotspots in the country.

And then finally, yeah, exactly that event that I went to in 2011, that was already a time where it was like tourism was kind of become to boom in the country because it became safer and safer. And they really set, like the country set a strategy to promote tourism and make the world believe that it is a nice place to visit and not... um you know like what the world knew about uh colombia which was that uh what netflix tells us traffickers are are putting up bombs and uh public places and all that stuff so yeah so that time was over with with the death of pablo escobar

and and luckily from there on they they went uphill and indeed when I went the first time to this event that was the first World Cup in Colombia ever organized and the slogan of the country's tourism was Colombia the only danger is wanting to stay.

Wow, that's creative. That was a big danger that you wanted to stay. And indeed, what's happened to me. So, yeah, back to your question. Basically, I think the easiest and most rewarding and kind of most enjoyable flying is in the Kauka Valley. So basically, between... Yeah, from Cali northwards because you don't really want to go southwards too much because that's still kind of a, yeah, more like narco trafficking territory. But as long as you stay like maybe 20-30 kilometers south of Pidecinchen all the way to the end of the valley which is 200 kilometers approximately so it's quite plenty of space and you can land in different airports you can land in Cali which is

international but also Pereira or Armenia. And to get from Cali to Piracinche, it's only a 50-minute drive. And to Roldanillo, it's a two-hour drive. But there is a great difference between these two flying sites, and I really want to talk about this because, of course, everybody knows about Roldanillo because that's where all the competitions took place. But indeed, Yeah, conditions almost got a little worse than they used to be because they have just kind of recently lost one of the, if not the best takeoff sites, which was private, but now they decided to close it. And the Pico is called that there are actually there's now another takeoff sites. It's new one, but it's not as good as

Pico. And there is no like official landing place that would be. So there's basically, yeah, there's no official landing place, which is horrible for low experience or beginner pilots, because it's almost like you have to kind of cross the city and do a little bit of cross country. Otherwise you're stuck with this tiny, tiny, very technical landing place that still kind of remains. yeah because that was a landing but they built a housing project there so now it's it's it's gone and i think yeah that's kind of a failure of the the leadership of the town that they they let it happen instead of securing a good spot for for the pilots but maybe they will do something about it i'm not sure um but uh

basically yeah there are two sets of high voltage power lines running all along this mountain range or on this side of the the mountains and uh that's kind of stressful because um well you have to overfly them but except one takeoff where you would immediately overfly it uh from los tanques but that's an hour driving from Rolbanil, so it's kind of far from the other places you have to fly. And basically, if you are on an A or a lower performing B glider or maybe even better B glider, but you get into some sink, then you may get difficulties in crossing the power line. So many people end up having to fly underneath it, which is scary. i don't need the power lines that's like yeah and then when you're underneath

then you will not make it uh to a proper landing zone anyways so then people end up landing in this valley and and uh but yeah also there is a the sea breeze that's coming in from the pacific ocean and uh that comes in depending on the day depending on the thermal activity between sometimes even 11 o'clock, sometimes only 1 o'clock, but then it turns to be a backwind on the takeoff and it's really similar to the fern wind in the Alps, which is coming over and down from the mountains and then it becomes really strong and really gusty. And the later during the day, the more it pushes out into the middle of the valley and makes the thermals kind of disappear in some time. But I mean, still, if you want to

chase kilometers and if you want to take off as early as possible, then this is definitely the place because people can go from as early as nine o'clock in the morning and then basically just kind of dolphin a long staying up of course the better the higher performing glider the earlier they can go but so the best pilots are chasing like these 200 kilometer FAI triangles which is kind of limited because this is the western Cordillera of the Andes and then there is on the opposite side of the valley already the central Cordillera and you're limited in between these two mountain ranges but 200 and some kilometers is possible. So just for the context for our listeners, let's say this

Aninder: paragliding site that you're talking about, let's say you're a very keen pilot from Europe who's listening to this and who's been wanting to fly in Colombia for a while. How do you get there? Like what kind of airport do you go to? And once you land there, what's the safest and the most convenient way to reach this location? And once you're there, How do things pan out? Where do you find your accommodation? Where do you find other paragliders that you can go and talk to and figure out how to take it forward? Yeah, so if you want to go to Rodanillo, as I said, it's a

two-hour drive from Cali airport, maybe a bit less from Pereira. But there are more flights to Cali. And basically, when you get out from the airport, it's the most... convenient or or easiest way is to just jump in any any taxi it's safe okay and uh you should just ask them to show the the that they have like a table of prices between the the bigger cities so just make them show you the price of the actual price so it's not that they're gonna invent some some funny prize in the end new numbers just because you're waiting exactly yeah yeah yeah I mean, that's still kind

of an issue in different areas in South America where it's a general issue, but I would say it's kind of safe. And there are... many many who who usually the same guys who do the the shuttles up to the mountain but also some other buses that specifically come to the airports to pick pilots up and basically yeah in roldanio it's already like really the paragliding industry really made its way deep into the economy so there are many since i was there the first time or nowadays there has been a big boom in terms of accommodations and infrastructure for pilots. Even the local buses have big paragliding stickers. Actually, there is also these big white buses, the Occidente brand, which I think must have...

at least between cali but that's opposite way from the airport if you want to go to cali but there are buses running uh or like to roll the neo as well uh which is much much cheaper but of course it's gonna take her longer yeah but honestly like it's just like any other place like uh if you go somewhere on holiday you you look up on the internet where you want to stay and you you you look for a place depending on on your budget and and and and and needs um but there are more and more like home stays where people rent out their their flats during the season and uh there has been

a couple of new hotels built since then and uh Basically, everything in Roda Neo is happening around the main square, which is where you just go there in the morning. You have to go pretty early because of the mentioned backwind coming in and you have to start rather early. True, true, true. 10 would be ideal. And there's going to be all the shuttles that basically just... take any pilot to go to the takeoff and you just have to ask which takeoff they're going to because there are three. Okay. Yeah, so it's actually really easy. And then there's going to be so many pilots that basically once you're airborne, you just kind of follow... For the herd, basically, the gaggle is barking the whole day.

Aninder: Oh, beautiful. Yeah. So basically, the party starts super early in the day and just go to the square and find your tribe and, you know, just... Exactly. Yeah, it's around seven o'clock, so which is another thing that I don't really like about it. Early to rise wins the day, yeah? Yeah. All right. So basically now, let's say you have decided, you know how to kind of get there and what the vibe is like. So what is the minimum skill level that you should have before you book your ticket and actually make it happen? I do agree that, you know, top two bottoms are possible everywhere. That is something that new like beginner courses happen all across the world. So you can, of course, go to this country as a low

Aninder: airtime pilot as well. But let's say you want to spend your money in the most wisest manner and make the most out of it. What is the minimum kind of control, wing control you should be at or what kind of hours you should be at? And yeah, what should be a level before you actually dive in and make it happen? Well, I was always a little bit surprised and sometimes a bit upset to see that people with very low experience are taken to Roldanio,

for example, because it's indeed quite... um it can be a pretty strong place because it's an east face and there are some thermal hot spots that are especially strong early on and uh and it's unfortunately not really a top to bottom place uh yeah maybe from los tanques which has some landable fields in front but um But Pidecinche, on the other hand, is perfectly suitable for this because it's a rather west-facing ridge. So although it's west-facing, the thermals are already starting at 10, so only one hour later than from... Yeah, I mean, on the ideal days, right? Maybe... maybe let's say 11 is more of a good average but I see from the schooling activity that is happening there that basically they fly

in the morning but already in these early hours people can try out some thermal flying because it's really soft and starts really early and maybe they are not able to climb but you're at least able to Extend your flight and begin to feel how a thermal feels like and how things work. The landing place is just huge. There are many shuttles going up and it's a quick, let's say maximum 20 minutes ride back up to the most commonly used launch. There are many, but the number seven it's called is where most launches happen.

And then, yeah, the great advantage is that this backwind from the Pacific is now coming in like kind of like a headwind. I see. It's a bit usually from the side. It doesn't come in westerly exactly. It's more northwest. Mm-hmm. um which doesn't really have a a slope to soar but but uh at least it's a nice blown out wind and uh and the good thing is that basically you can fly all the day into the sunset unless uh maybe there is a rain shower or over there so it is really an extremely beginner friendly place and uh i think that's why so many people like it because It

doesn't have any of those stressful factors that you have in Roldanillo. I see. And you can fly all day and you know on the good days thermals will still be four meter per second which is awesome and they are huge with multiple cores often. So yeah we are a little bit limited in terms of the playground because in front in the middle of the valley you have the Cali airport. I see. But still there is plenty of space to fly cross country.

The next town is Santa Elena that has been also evolving quite a bit. It's already for some reason, I'm not 100% sure why, but among Colombians, it's also somehow popular to come for the weekends. It's a touristy place in general. Yeah, it's a little bit touristic, although there's... I'm not sure. Yeah, many people come to Piracinche or the El Pomo village, which has some natural pools. So there's a crystal clear river coming down from the high mountains, which are 4,000 meters high. You rarely see them because it's usually covered by clouds. um you have these nice pools so people come there and there are some other activities and there are a few big hotels in Santa Elena which is where

you will find most of the pilots and uh and um but there are also many so-called fincas which are private like uh private farms or private houses with also the possibility to rent them out. What was the Colombian word? Finca. Finca. Finca. Yeah. It's like a range. F-I-N-K-A. Finca. Yeah. C-A. F-I-N-C-A. Interesting. Interesting. So...

Yeah, it's even from Santa Elena to the takeoff is almost the same time as going from the landing place to the takeoff. So it's nice infrastructure wise. And also if you land somewhere like land out somewhere from cross country, it's like in general, people are very friendly and open and will pick you up and maybe take you to the main road or take you to the next town or, you know, it's generally quite easy to find your way back. 100%. I was going to come back to this later on in the interview, but let's say outlandings, since we have mentioned it. As a

Aninder: light-skinned person, when you stand out clearly and you don't speak any of the local language and you are shouting out that I'm a gringo...

yeah that's what you are yeah so you would be nice you would be easy to you indeed yeah but i don't have spanish so so pretty much they don't talk

Aninder: Yeah. So basically outlanding and sticking out from the crowd. Can it get dangerous or is it just like any other place? Just be aware, just see how things are happening. Or should you put some other guard up and kind of be aware that this can come or this can surprise you? I speak well

Spanish but yeah I also spent like years and years already in total in the country and I never had any problem but I know I heard of some robbings of gringos I think it probably comes down to like just don't be arrogant even if you don't speak the language just smile and kind of be kind or Because sometimes I have the feeling that those people who are being robbed, maybe they don't only just don't speak Spanish, but they just maybe land and act maybe a little ignorant or in a way that... That makes some who are kind of desperate or in need to, you know, like financially, you know,

there are two, three guys there and then it's easy to take your phone or whatever. I heard of some of these incidents, but like nobody ever got injured or hurt or... Oh, that's good. So... It's not like they're going to steal all your complete paraglider because they know that it's not so easy to sell, right? A phone or some instrument, not even an instrument because they don't know what that is really. Very true. Some of these kind of basic electronics that are useful in everyday life. Yeah, I heard of some occasions, but I really recommend just basically no matter from where you're going to travel to Colombia or South America and any country, it's just worth it. buying a little Spanish book and

just study it on the 10 hour flight. Because I mean, even just the very, very basics, like being able to ask which way do I go to whatever the main road or how do I get to this town or that road? um can be very useful and as soon as people at least have a have a feeling that you at least kind of make a little bit of effort that you try then it completely changes the The way they interact and perceive you and see you. I see. Yeah, because if they see that you are just an arrogant gringo with an iPhone 15 Pro, then for sure they're going to take it if they need it. Later they're going to let

go. But of course then on the other hand, I still prefer to not land right next to a town. I see. I still prefer to maybe land kind of on the sugarcane field or somewhere where at least I know I have time to pack all my stuff up. But if you don't have time to pack all your stuff up and you see half of the village already coming, then at least stay. like put your electronics away and and of course don't carry thousands of dollars or whatever so yeah honestly yeah i speak spanish so maybe it's it's a really big bonus but um I think the way how you pick your landings and how

you kind of interact with the people is key. And I never, ever had a problem. I was in one situation where I thought, I'm not sure, maybe these guys would want to do something. But in the end, that was not a problem. Beautiful. So really, it's all about like, you know, you land somewhere and you see all these weird faces looking at you, maybe like a little suspicious, but if you go like, hey, have a good day and you smile and you know... If you can just say, buenos dias, you know, have a good day, and immediately you're going to see them smile back, and it's all

like, oh, okay, it's all good, you know. Nice. So break the ice in a funny way, and then you're kind of on the same team. You're on a more friendly

Aninder: basis with locals. Interesting. I mean, I can imagine, you know, somebody coming out who looks different, who stands out, flying on a paraglider, fancy with all the electronics. It's definitely going to be of interest to a local who's got nothing better to do but just, you know, look at you and be curious about what you have. Yeah, but at the same time, at least in Kauka Valley, paragliding has grown so much and it's

really part of the tourism and

I think a lot of people know somebody somehow benefiting from it and they kind of understood that this is part of the economy and that this is really helping the community in general. So I think that helps too. No, 100%. I mean, I think our listeners do get the idea. First of all, buy a

Aninder: Spanish book that you can read. Yeah, just a small one. Read it on the 10-hour flight. Then listen to this show because it has got all the ingredients and all the details that you need. And then I think you're set to have an adventure of your lifetime in Colombia, I believe. Yeah,

and what I love to see is when I go there, I basically see many, many familiar faces because somehow people who travel a lot and visited many different places and somehow at some point they came to Colombia and they like it so much and they keep coming back. Of course, you can always visit new places, but somehow in this January, February season, I tend to see very... Yeah, a lot of familiar faces and it's a nice confirmation that people like it there and that's like part of the reason is also the locals, right? Like not just people in Rolanió or Pidecinche, but also basically anywhere they land, they are usually welcomed and greeted by people who were helpful. So glad to hear that. And I think female

Aninder: security, is it kind of similar? Yeah, probably. No big change or anything like that as a solo female. If you land, you're going to face the same challenges as a male. I would say so, yeah. All right. Well, that's so good to hear. Because usually that is one of the concerns. But if that is sorted, then nothing like it. Let's say now you kind of have an idea and you're kind of going about your day. You've settled in. what is something that people mess up most often like what is the most often I would say accident or bad news or like what is the thing that people

repeatedly do without kind of you know knowing it well yeah what comes to my mind quickly is for sure those power lines Wow, now that looks scary.

So basically you have these power lines at the very kind of high angle, like a glide angle. To give our listeners a context, there's a takeoff.

Aninder: What's the name of the takeoff again? Well, now there is one that's called Agua Panela, which is the furthest back from the valley, so you

are even further away from the power lines. You have a bit more height, but you have to basically just fly straight out and try not to make a turn, especially not while you lose altitude, because you really need your... best glide to to overfly the the power lines does a glider matter which yes totally so that's why so the competitions always took place from this place because it's the biggest takeoff and um and it's easier for for a lot of people but um but um yeah now there is this other takeoff that's called trevor honestly i haven't been there before uh it's a little bit lower but it's closer to uh to the power nine so basically when when you come from Agua Panela you kind of overfly this place so it's

almost the same but the point is that people try to catch a terminal just too early and usually the terminals are out in front and out closer to the valley because the closer to the mountains the more shady it is usually and they maybe make a turn or two at the wrong spot or maybe fly through sync and then now they are kind of on the limit to overfly the power lines and then once they have to go under it then they are committed to land in this valley which has no like yeah it has some fields but it's all a slope landing So that's one quite typical scenario. And the other one is that

there are some hot spots on the ridge which are producing especially strong thermals in the morning. Okay. Because it's some big east faces and really accumulating a lot of hot air. And... yeah basically people with with with not enough experience can be overwhelmed or you know they get collapses and there are unfortunately these uh one or two places where some serious accidents happen also fatal accidents

So it's good to know where those are. Everybody knows. And I'm sure if you go and ask anybody who has been there before, we'll be able to tell you. So you don't need like an expert to know about it. All right. And so it's good to at least try to get there as high as possible or avoid if you are not so experienced. Makes sense. So get high, stay high, and do not scratch yourself into power lines. That is the takeaway. That's really like, yeah, because, yeah. And respect the airspaces because, yeah, unfortunately, this is something that has to be... worked out internally in the in the colombian paragliding community or or federation because there is an airspace structure but if you look into

like xe x contest uh xc track yeah uh the application that's like not necessarily precise enough or it's not does not include all the the air spaces for some reason so so people who just follow that reference might actually be violating serious airspace and the problem with that is that you know these are mostly tourists who who come and then leave but then then basically leave the problems behind with the locals who are in some I'd like to interrupt there a little bit, but are you telling me that the airspaces which are uploaded on Xcontest are not updated, and even

Aninder: if you abide by them, you still might be breaking them unknowingly? Yeah, the last time I looked, yes. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, now when you know that this is a problem, how do you get your hands on to the updated one? Yeah, that's the problem. So it's more... How do you know what not to do or where not to go? Yeah, it's a really, really silly situation and it really

would need, like, require the dedicated work of a serious committee of pilots who should invest a lot of time and effort into clearing this situation. But, you know, in Colombia there is no such an airspace like a Golf G, you know, which is for gliding and free flyers. There is, like, none of that. And I think... Yeah, it would be nice to introduce that. But unfortunately,

Yeah, so if you would be flying as it is officially allowed, then there would be almost no flying. Wow. Because there was a kind of a bad situation a few years ago where, yeah, it was, let's say, a bad season and like with some accidents and and even the the federation or what is it yeah the like like the faa of colombia they shut down the entire paragliding no activity until like they figured things out and in the end they came up with some stupid ideas that you can only fly here and then to cross the valley you have to stay in this corridor or that corridor

which is totally unrealistic and yeah so but the thing is people fly everywhere and it's okay it is okay to fly in most places but you need to know about those few places where you should not fly because it's either a military base or an airport or anti-narcotic like anti what is it anti bad guys. Yeah, anti bad guys, helicopter base and stuff like that. So there are a few of those places. So it please guys be like inform yourself if you plan to making big flights. Yeah. But other than that, yeah, it's a lot of fun. So nice to hear that. You brought that in the end because I was

Aninder: getting tense. I was like, you don't know where the airspace is. And you don't know which one is the right one. But as long as it is fun in the end, I think you are having a good time. Yeah, just talk to people who... Yeah, talk to the locals or people who are going there most of the time. So basically, learn Spanish, make some friends, and your life will be a beautiful bliss in Colombia. Well, the better you can, the better it is. I see. I forgot, get a tan as well before you go. A tan? Yeah. Get a tan. The more browner you look, the better it is. I see. I see. All right. Let's say

now we know everything kind of, you know, we know the airspaces, we know the rules, how things work actually on ground and what kind of takeoffs are there and what not to do. Let's say everything falls into place. You know, you go there, you kind of found your tribe and you're there on the takeoff at the right time. The first birds are already circling and climbing up. You're in the air. If it's a perfect day, what does it look like? The perfect day of flying in this place that we are talking about. You mean in Roldanillo or in Piracincha or generally in the valley? I would say generally. Let's say listeners can decide wherever they want to take off from. But if it's a good day where the sounding looks

Aninder: beautiful, the cloud streets and everything is visible, what are the best possible things that Colombia throws at you when everything is working in order? Well, you have these beautiful clouds that basically mark the terminals. And as you already mentioned, birds. There are

many, many birds. What do you have, vultures or condors? It's vultures, small vultures. Okay. And they're awesome to fly with because, well, first of all, they're not aggressive. They are curious. They come and check you out. And also, they are termaling a lot. They love to fly. Yeah. And... They're pretty much out there from the first thermal to the last. And there are so many, I think more than any other place I know, that really you get a lot of help when you are able to spot them. They are almost in every thermal. I think this reminds me of back home in Bir Willink.

Aninder: Over there we have griffon vultures all over the place. Yeah, it feels almost like cheating, man, because, yeah, when I come back to Europe

after the entire winter time in Colombia, I feel like I'm lost in the air because there are no birds ever anywhere. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, where is the tunnel? Where is the tunnel? I feel like... really no help at all and yeah so this is I feel like it's an amazing bonus to have them around and depending on the area like sometimes Or depending on the time of the day, early on, they thermal a lot. And then later on, there is like kind of like a highway of them where they are just traveling between. So you mean they have their own tasks to do throughout the day? I'm not sure

what exactly they are up to, but they are definitely traveling great distances during the day. I mean, having secret competitions amongst

Aninder: themselves. Like sometimes you look at them and it really looks like a competition. You see these little gaggles and you see the higher ones

already leave. Sounds like a dream. What I like about Colombian cross-country flying a lot is the thermal quality. You have these massive thermals, really widespread, that sometimes you enter, you begin to climb, But the actual core, the best place to turn and to center it might be even like hundreds and hundreds of meters inside. So you've got this massive... Wow, that's huge. It's really huge. And sometimes you get multiple cores in the same area of lift. Almost like the thermal is coming or maybe multiple thermals joined together. But unless you are flying these early east faces, which can get some spicy thermals. And punchy, you mean? Yeah, punchy and really strong and kind of

cyclical and kind of turbulent as they push through the airmast. Okay. But once you're out on the flatlands, and really you can already fly the flatlands pretty early on. So, I mean, 11 is kind of the limit, but 12 or 1 o'clock is already a good time to be out on the flatlands. And then you get these pretty smooth thermals that is really suitable for pretty much anybody. But then on a good average, good day, you are kind of looking for four meter per second climbs, which is quite nice. So as long as you're high and have altitude to spare to look for those thermals and the clouds

are looking good, then I'm always searching for those three, four meter climbs. Ideally. So anything less than that is capable on a good day.

Aninder: Like you can go out and look for better air if you have the height. If you have the height and the sky is looking good, then... I mean, once you

already experienced that the day is offering those kind of thermal strength, then of course, if you want to fly fast and have a good average, then... Ideally, you want to hunt for those good average climbs and don't stop in something weaker as long as you have the altitude to burn.

Aninder: And at an average, such a beautiful day gives you 100, 150 kilometers-ish? Yeah. What kind of triangle do you close in when you land? Yeah, in Roldanillo, yeah, 100K triangle is a good target. It's...

I would say kind of easy on a good day for somebody who is able to keep up a good average. Okay. But there the problem is always that as you're coming back to close the triangle, in the afternoon hours you're going to face that headwind that depending on the day can become pretty strong and then it might... not let you really close i mean really flying back to the takeoff is usually not an option yeah uh because the later the stronger it gets and and actually that would also be a point uh that people keep um making as a mistake is that they they want to fly back to the

town they want to land as close as possible and there it's really gusty can be really gusty and and and they might end up flying backwards so it's usually better to land just a little bit further out in the valley and that there is a main road that goes from another town called Starsau to Rode Nio. There is a bunch of motor taxis or buses running, so this is not really a point in pushing it. Just because you want to walk less. I think

Aninder: if all of our community just agrees on that, that walking is better than not flying for the coming days, it'll just save so much airtime and so much hassle, so much accidents and bad situations. Yeah, I see a lot of people pushing it and there is one uh like a football field a stadium

which is even worse because there is this tribune and and the lights on all sides is poles and and it's in the middle of town which is really hot and uh many people actually accident uh get accidents because they they want to land as close as possible or shame and uh yeah it's really yeah it's a shame Now, well, let's hope our listeners don't repeat that mistake because we have given them all the information. Yeah. All

Aninder: right. Then I think we are pretty much close to wrapping up anything that a person needs to go out and have a beautiful airtime in Colombia. But let's say you go there and the weather, which is obviously, you know, does its own thing and is not, is kind of, day grey, rainy and the coming days look a bit weird. What is the best way to spend time when not in the air in these places? Well, first of all, I think that's a great advantage of

Pidecinche because The problem with Royal Danilo is that you only have one shot in the morning. So you go up really early, you fly. If you have an early bomb out, maybe just a straight top to bottom, it's already going to be maybe 11 o'clock. By the time you get up to the takeoff again, now you're risking to maybe not be able to take off because of the backwind and your day is pretty much over. So most people just have one shot and very early. And if it doesn't work, then you have the day kind of lost. And in Piracinche, you can have rain in the morning and at some point it's

going to stop. There is very, very few days in the whole year that it just rains all out through the day or night. There's very few days. Although it rains on many days, but that's, yeah. But like showers, you know. Yeah. But I think that's with any good thermic paragliding site, you

Aninder: know. Yeah. Showers can be close to the equator. So, but the good thing is it can, it can rain, but then like you can go up again and fly. So you have

all the day, even, I mean, maybe you're not going to have the greatest cross-country flight, but at least you can fly. And yeah, there are, I mean, depending on what else, like what is your interest, like there is a world-class kite surfing spot called Lake Kalima, which is also related to this Pacific wind that comes in through like a valley and onto this artificial lake. Okay. There is 1,500 meters, so it's not the warmest, but it's quite consistent. um there are like other nice touristic places like um the uh kokora kokora valley which has this massive 40 meter palm trees and one really uh even you can do some guided trekking tours up to 4 000 meters or there's also a 5 000 meter there i

think or uh almost um there is like thermal uh spring um bam i never knew colombia offers so much yeah because really it's uh it's volcanic right so there's a lot of uh thermal um What is it called? Yeah. Thermal hot springs. Yeah, hot springs, exactly. So, I mean, you're going to have to travel a little bit. And so from Rodanillo to go to any of these places, it's going to be at least two hours drive. But there is also Manizales, which is like this Vulcan capital of Colombia, which has a... There's a...

national park of the Vulcans and there is also the cafe region in Armenia which is really famous like where they grow most of the cafe and you know they offer tours and show you how it is done and yeah stuff like that so basically long story short going down to Colombia flying is amazing non-flying days are amazing and you basically don't have any excuse to not book the ticket especially in the winter right Yeah, so the most known time is January, February. I had some really good flights already in December and all the way to like, yeah, maybe out of the January, February, maybe it's not as consistent. but you can still get surprised by some crazy good flights all the way till like April and then there's

another summer like dry season because it's not really summer or winter, it's more like a dry or more humid. In July, August, I just been there for the first time in this August. And there's also a competition. It was really nice. And the conditions were also really nice. So basically, it's all year round. And many times that, yeah, you know, we spend like usually till April, May after the main season and usually, you know, it's supposed to be the wet season, but it's not raining a drop. Sometimes it's kind of... Should we blame it to climate change? I don't know. I don't know. So if you don't have the expectations of breaking your personal best or fly 100, 200 kilometers, then it's really a

year-round place to visit. Wow. I thought it was just a winter destination before Mexico kicked in or something. No, no, no. There are some operators who... who offer paragliding tours pretty much all year round. Wow, that's news. But for serious cross-country, and as we

Aninder: spoke, if you're planning to close in on triangles and hit your PBs, December, January is the target. Yeah, December to March, with

January, February usually the most consistent. beautiful beautiful okay so basically around like the whole mexico thing and colombia and

Aninder: everything they kind of work at the same time so you can kind of you know choose which you want to hit which year and which you want to explore which season kind of a thing yeah exactly so this monarca open in valladolid was usually just before or it's december or january okay

But, I mean, that season is also starting earlier. And then usually there is like a World Cup event in March in Brazil. But it's a really big continent, you know. It's quick to travel to Mexico from Colombia, but to Brazil it almost takes as long as traveling from Europe. No way. Come

Aninder: on. Antlig is super close. Yeah, look at the map. Yeah. It's massive. Yeah, I agree. And then you have the rainforest and everything between. No, it's a surprisingly diverse continent on our planet. Well, I think with that, we kind of have all the information that an average Joe or above average Joe wants to go ahead and fly in Colombia. But, you know, we have a tradition in our show because it's a bit of a storytelling perspective. At the end of every interview or this kind of a podcast, I always request my guests to share one experience that is close to their hearts, that is from the place of action. So if there's something that comes up to you that you would like our listeners to kind of envision on if

they're sitting on a plane or driving or doing whatever, we'll be very thankful. Oh, wow. I have to think. Yeah, I agree. It's a tricky one. Too

many stories. But so about Colombia, right? Yeah, yeah. Like something that is from this location that makes your heart skip a beat. Oh, man,

Aninder: this is a tough one. Yeah. We can make it quick. I can see the desperation. And anyone who's listening, you have no idea how hard it is to keep all tuckers into this conversation. Because, right? Yeah, it's beautiful time to fly. So we have to make this quick so both of us can go out and get some airtime. Yeah, I don't know really. I'm often failing in telling about my favorite side or my favorite story. But yeah, I recommend

everybody to come and visit this lovely country and then experience your own story to tell about... Beautiful. And where can they find you on

Aninder: a good flying day? Well, yeah, so my house is in Petercinche. So, yeah, either in the air or maybe at the landing or at home. Beautiful. Nice. Well, I'm pretty sure most of them will be more than happy to come say hi and take a photo, as it must be happening. Well, great, Paul. On that note, thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts to come out and share with us your legendary stories and your whole information from Colombia. I think I, as a pilot, have been curious about these kind of locations, and that is the main motivation behind bringing in this interview slash narration sort of format, so anyone who's listening can come in and make some magic. Thank you so much, and best of luck for

your flying days. Keep rocking. You are a great inspiration. Yeah, let's get some air time. Yeah!