Puerto Maldonado

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Coca tea and else....

Lima Ica Nazca Arequipa Titicaca Cusco Pisac Ollaytaytambo Machu Picchu Urubamba Puerto Maldonado

Cerro Sacro, the radio antennae spiked hill above Urubamba, is the valley's main site. The afternoon wind is often too strong to launch from the top, so pilots start halfway down, exactly what your instructor taught you not to do when you learned to fly. It usually works, and the gullied hillside can have fairly smooth air, but often thermals join in to create a bumpy soup. By sunset the air smoothes out, making a relaxing end of the day, while the light on the nearby peaks go off.

The other launch in the Urubamba Valley is at a scenic viewpoint called El Mirador. Here women sit with mantas piled with woven textiles and handicrafts for sale. The launch is on a smooth grassy slope, a few feet below the overlook. Obviously it has an especially beautiful view since it was chosen as an overlook.

Unfortunately the landing options in the town of Huayllabamba, a thousand meters below, are less than optimal. The typical soccer field landing zone is surrounded by a high fence and barbed wire, and is close to a hillside covered with tall eucalyptus trees. The second option, fields on the south edge of town next to the Rio Urubamba, are cut in half by tall high-tension electrical lines. Both landing zones are useable, but neither is great, as opposed to the vast open flat fields below Cerro Sacro.

Huayllabamba is a beautiful village with typical tiled red roofs, central plaza and colonial church. Pilots travel to paraglide to discover just this off the beaten track kind of place. The El Mirador site is sheltered from south wind, so when it's cross or over the back on Cerro Sacro, this is a the option. Another five minutes up the road is the pueblo of Chincero, with its colorful Sunday market.


 

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