Learning to Fly in Spain. |
||
Having "retired" from full time work on Friday I started to learn to fly a paraglider on the following Monday. Because of the British weather this was only a partial success, so I searched the Internet for a European paragliding school with a good reputation and reliable weather. I found one in Spain and this page is being written after a few days flying with them. |
||
The school is Parapente Tropical on the southern coast of Spain near Motril and is run by Antonio Castro. Normally Antonio takes groups of students from Spain, England or Sweden. The school provides both tuition and accommodation in large bunk rooms with a massive communal living area containing an indoor swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, barbecue, training area and bar(s). |
Food is provided some nights and on other nights the students go into town. The ambience is very informal. The decor is very eclectic. Antonio has spent 15 years extending the accommodation (and also his home as the two are inextricably intertwined). It will never ever be finished! |
There are currently four other students here three Swedish one Finnish (two experienced, one mad, all fun). Tuition is in English which Antonio speaks well. Although most students seem to have their own kit the school provides excellent (and in my case brand new) equipment of a very high standard to those students who do not yet have their own. |
On the first day's flying here I flew further than the total of all my previous flights in the UK. I flew higher than ever before and I felt (probably wrongly) safer. On my last day I completed a 15 minute 500 metre top to bottom flight and very nearly landed in an olive tree. As with all paragliding much time was spent driving from site to site and waiting for the wind to strengthen/drop/change direction. More advanced pilots did far more adventurous things. Parapente Tropical is probably best suited to groups of student of
the same standard booking together and most of the sites I saw seem best suited
to at least BHPA CP level. |
Home - This page last changed on 2003-01-04.