More Flying at Tapalpa

We really like both the flying site and the town of Tapalpa. So we made a big loop in our travels and returned here for our last flights of the trip. I did some kiting and was feeling better about my leg so it was a very positive start. 

Andrew approaching the LZ

This time it was big blue eyes. Doesn't he look like he's starving?!? Not! :-) 

After our first flights, Pedro picked us up. As we sat at launch eating a late lunch, a number of other pilots arrived, launched and were definitely finding some good thermals! A couple of them got quite high and either went cross country or top landed. Andrew decided to do a second flight. I knew he was also hoping to be able to try a top landing. (The top landing here is done in a large open area by the main road where you turn off to get to the launch area, not the actual launch site.) 

There wasn't a huge amount of lift off launch but he headed way out front to where some other pilots had caught a thermal and I was happy to watch his determination as he worked it and got back up, high above launch.

Photo taken from below the shelter at launch.

Unfortunately, as he came in to land he got bounced around a bit, fell forward upon landing and hurt his thumb. Not broken but quite swollen and sore the next few days.

The next day when we arrived at launch there were a couple other pilots and tandems waiting to fly. One pilot launched and things looked good. I got my gear out and started getting ready, as did one of the tandem pilots. I was in my harness and just about to spread out my wing when the second tandem pilot came and plopped his wing down and immediately spread it out right beside me (i.e. meaning I now had to move over to make room to spread out my wing). I realize the tandems are on home turf and there to make money but it seemed rather rude. Anyway, I decided to wait for the two tandems to launch first. Just about this time, the wind was starting to change direction and also get a bit stronger. Because the wind was quite cross, it took them forever to launch and neither of them (even as very experience tandem pilots) made it look easy. I was not comfortable with how cross it was, or the wind speed, so decided to pack up and not fly. In hindsight it was stupid! I should have either gone first before other pilots or quickly gotten set up right after the first guy went. Oh well!

I had a good flight the next day and even found a nice thermal right out front that the two pilots who launched before me quickly came and joined me in.

The next three photos are screenshots from video. I like them for their perspective of launching and checking wing once in the air.

Just about to bring the wing up.

Wing looks good, stable in the air, now time to "turn and burn."

Checking wing again right after launch; all looks good.

Me at the top of the stack. I point this out, not to brag but because of it's rarity!  :-) 

Heading to the LZ

One of the last turns to set up for landing.

One day after flying, we went back to the Tapalpa Country Club for lunch. Again, great views! 

A couple of our favourite restaurants in Tapalpa:

Dark chocolate gelato at Madre Tierra

Best pizza we had in Mexico at El Jardin de Filippo

Cascada el Salto del Nogal and More of Tapalpa

At 105m, Cascada el Salto del Nogal is the tallest waterfall in state of Jalisco. There was lots of downhill on the way there and, as result, lots of uphill on the way back. But it was spectacular and well worth the hike. The photo does not do it justice. With several stops for photos and a longer stop at the lower falls, it took us about an hour each way.

Cactus growing on the steep slopes near the top of the waterfall.

Beautiful stream and trees between the upper and lower falls.

Other curious users of the trail.

Due to the elevation gain from the coast, Tapalpa is quite a bit cooler, especially at night. We even used the fireplace in our room a couple times!

We quickly found a favorite breakfast spot. It had friendly staff and a balcony with a view of the town square and the old and newer cathedrals.

Looking down from the Tapalpa flying site, there are several greenhouses. The one we land right beside is growing raspberries. We've seen a few Driscoll's signs around so it's likely these are ones that we find in grocery stores in Canada and the US. 

On the same non-flying afternoon that we went to the waterfall, we went to the Tapalpa Country Club and had a late lunch on their deck. Very posh and lovely views!

Flying at Tapalpa

Me launching

It was relatively easy to get the flying in Tapalpa figured out. We initially headed to the launch area, only to miss the turnoff, so decided to head down the hillside to see if we could find the landing zone. Unfortunately the LZ wasn't marked on the paradgliding earth site and although there are lots of landable looking areas, nothing was obvious. We discovered it's probably not marked because the LZ can change depending on what crops are planted where.

We emailed one of the local pilots (whose advertisement we'd seen in the hotel) and headed back up to launch. Miguel answered right away and happened to be on launch managing some tandem flights as we were conversing with him. He was extremely helpful and gave us lots of good local information on where to find the thermals, pointed out the LZ, and hooked us up with Pedro who looks after the site and, for a small price, will drive retrieve.

Since I hadn't flown since summer, I wanted to do some kiting before getting in the air and there is a large top landing area which was the perfect spot.

By this time it was later in the day. I encouraged Andrew to take a flight and I would pick him up. I wanted to check out the LZ up close and personal before landing there.

Andrew in the air

The next day we both did short flights in the morning and Pedro picked us up. It felt great to get that first flight done!

Me in the air

View from the front row

We got back up to launch, left our wings in the vehicle and grabbed our lunch to have a bit to eat before another flight. We observed a pilot just launching as we walked to where we were going to sit. He got a bit of lift right away and turned . . . a wing tip collapsed, then the front, and spun down and crashed into the hillside. I dropped our lunch and a water bottle where I was and Andrew and I both ran down the hill. We were both wondering what we were going to find when we got there and were imagining worst case scenarios.

Wing in the trees. Further away than it looks in this photo. 

I called out to the person several times along the way, both to make sure Andrew and I were headed in the right direction and to see if he was at least well enough to answer. Thankfully, he was! And luckily there were a few slightly overgrown trails to follow which made getting to him much easier than bushwhacking through very thick jungle type trees and vines.

I was appreciative of search and rescue training and a recent advanced wilderness first aid course (thank you Back40!) as I thought about scenarios of what we might find when we got to the pilot. Although I also thought about my first aid kit which was back in the vehicle! (On debriefing after the incident, we agreed that one of us should have gone to get the first aid kit while the other went to the pilot.)

It look less than five minutes to find him. He was standing up and had his harness part way off. Andrew immediately told him I was with search and rescue which put the pressure on! He complained of a sore shoulder; maybe ribs, maybe wrist. He didn't seem too sure. After asking a few questions, getting his jacket off and observing (looking for blood), I did a head-to-toe secondary assessment. All else seemed good. I took a closer look at his shoulder and didn't see any deformities but by now he was more definite about that being where it hurt the most. We offered to make an improvised sling for him with Andrew's long sleeve shirt but he said it felt better hanging down by his side.

By this time, the pilot's wife (who had been watching on launch) and Pedro (who grabbed a machete before heading down) were there with us. Thankfully the pilot felt well enough to walk out so, with Pedro making a clearer path with his machete, it didn't take us long to get back up to launch. We would have had a heck of a time, and needed a lot more people, to get him out of there if he hadn't been able to walk. He was a big guy!!

As more information came out, we learned that the pilot was using an old, high-end wing that he left in Mexico for times that he came here. His wing back at home in Germany was a more conservative one and it had been a while since he'd flown. It's likely that all of these things factored into his first accident in almost 30 years of flying.

As he went off to hospital to get x-rays, a large group of US and Canada pilots arrived. Paragliding is a small community so we'd met several of them before. We spent the rest of the afternoon "parawaiting" for the wind direction to cooperate so that we could fly again. I was losing motivation (plus thinking about the accident) so once conditions finally changed in the very late afternoon I decided to just drive retrieve. What a gong show trying to get rides figured out for everyone!

Ready to go but waiting for wind conditions to cooperate

Andrew coming in to land

The next day I skipped the first flight due to a very upset stomach but had a great second flight, lots of lift and thermals in the air. I forgot to mention that Pedro doesn't speak much English and we don't speak much Spanish so our pick up phone conversations are "Hola Pedro. Shelley and Andrew at Piano." "Ok." "Gracias." (Piano is the name of the regular LZ.)

Looking back towards launch

The LZ is one of the large bright green fields to the right of the green houses

The injured pilot showed up at launch again with a sling/brace around his shoulder and confirmed his shoulder blade was broken. He will have to have the brace on for about 6 weeks. It could have been so much worse! As noted in a podcast we listened to recently, "the ground is hard and unforgiving." In the same podcast, "the ground is fucking hard!" 

Anyway, it's been a fun first few days of flying, albeit with a bit more "excitement" than we ever hope for.

View from launch

The paragliding world cup was held here a few years ago and this beautiful shelter was built for it.

Mexican flag used as a wind sock to determine wind direction.

Andrew's blog post about the accident and first few days of flying can be seen here.

Puerto Vallarta to Tapalpa

While our "Mexico 2020" trip is about escaping some of the cold Saskatchewan winter (let's be honest, right!!), it's also about getting to do a couple of our favourite sports -- paragliding and scuba diving. Our clothing for the trip could easily fit into a couple carry-ons but when you add in the gear it looks like we're staying all year!

By the time we got to our hotel in "Old Town" and settled in, it was almost supper time. We wandered the malecon (a must-do according to all the "what to do in Puerto Vallarta" articles) and found Teresa Bistro and Bar just a block away. Wednesday nights a trio plays excellent jazz music and the open patio on the 4th floor of the building was right up our alley.

We spent just two nights in PV, mainly to get a brief feel for what it was like and to figure out phone sim cards. We also managed a run along the malecon each morning and lots of other walking. We enjoyed the colourful murals, especially those at the Cultural Centre, the many unique statues along the malecon, and flowers, butterflies and iguanas as highlighted in Andrew's post.

The intricate top of this church steeple caught my eye. 

And the contrast between the old church steeples and the new communications tower beyond. 

We then rented an SUV and headed out of the city. Our first stop was San Sebastián del Oeste where we visited a coffee plantation and roastery, enjoyed a drink with a view down the valley, and had supper at Jardin Nebulosa where the food and drinks are very local (they were picking plants out of the garden to make our meal) and very unique.

There was a festival of some sort going on that included a band, parade, church bells and fireworks. However, it also included church bells and fireworks at 0500 in the morning!!

Travelling from San Sebastián to Tapalpa involved a great variety of terrain from flat farm/grassland to winding mountainous roads. And a variety of road conditions to match. We discovered that the best way to slow traffic in towns is to build cobblestone streets and cobblestone speed bumps. Thank goodness we rented an SUV!

After arriving in Tapalpa, we located our accommodation (I only had to back down one long alley where we took a wrong turn) and found a coffee shop with a lovely courtyard.

We'll stop here for at least a few days, hoping to do some paragliding.