Paragliding and Bungee Jumping

by Spenser Pawlik

Our last full day in Cusco was packed with activities including paragliding, last minute souvenir shopping and bungee jumping for a few brave members of the group (Kelly and I). We woke up around 8 am, feeling well rested from the busy day at Machu Picchu yesterday. After yet another delicious breakfast we left the volunteer house around 9 am and headed off to paragliding. Using a combination of 3 different taxies, a hectic ride brought everyone safely to the top of a small mountain overlooking the Sacred Valley.

Our travel guide, Cesar, informed everyone we would paraglide with one of three experienced pilots provided by the paragliding company. When the wind was right, one of us would start running with their pilot towards the edge of the mountain until before we knew it there was no longer ground beneath their feet and they were hundreds of feet in the air.

Once getting situated with the pilot in the air, it was time to take in the amazing views including the snowy peaks of the Andes, the Sacred Valley far below and plots of farmland as far as the eye could see. The flight lasted anywhere from 5-15 minutes depending on the winds and then ended with a landing in a field. Some landed smoothly while others were not as lucky and were left with some scrapes and bruises.

After finishing paragliding, Kelly and I headed to the bungee jump while the others either waited for the wind to cooperate for their flight (unfortunately the winds became so strong in the afternoon Garret was not able to go) or headed into the city center for lunch and some shopping.

Once arriving at the bungee jump, we signed a few waivers and performed some advised stretching activities before the jump. The bungee jump was 122 meters (400 feet), the highest in South America! One at a time, we were raised up in a cage with an instructor. I was the first to go and I was a little nervous once at the top. A few final instructions were given and the instructor then started counting down… 3…2…1…GO! There was no refund for people who didn’t jump so I took a deep breath and took the leap. After falling for a few seconds, the cord attached to my feet went taught and kept me a safe distance from the ground as I bounced up and down. The cage then lowered me safely to the ground and it was Kelly’s turn to jump. Kelly took the same cage ride up and took the same leap of faith from 400 feet up (It looked much less scary watching from the ground). Once we were both back on the ground, feeling accomplished, we took a quick picture in front of the bungee jump and then took a taxi back into Cusco. 

Everyone made it back to the volunteer house that night and we each shared our stories about the rest of our day. It was an early bedtime as we all had flights out of Cusco in the morning. We were sad to leave but everyone felt accomplished after a busy last day.