The Maverick Tribe

The two days I just spent in Rio really hit the spot.  There´s really nothing like hang gliding hundreds of feet above Santa Teresa beach with the rugged mountain formations of Brazil´s coastline as a backdrop.  Rio was perfect -- 30 degree (Centigrade) weather, lots of folks on the beach, great churrascaria.  Churrascaria is one of the things that really draws me to Brazil.  You go to a restaurant, fill up your plate at a lavish buffet, while handsome waiters come by with skewers of meat to serve you.  I say skewers, but really these things resemble swords, and the swordsman slices off a hefty slice of lamb or sirloin steak right onto your plate.  I ate like the better part of a cow that night.

Then there was, again, the hang gliding.  This is something I meant to do the last time I was in Rio, but didn´t get a chance to.  Needless to say, it´s exhilerating.  Well, exhilerating but at the same time much more relaxing than I had expected, since the whole time you´re basically floating above the beach, looking down at forest and people and vistas below.  At the end, Ronaldo, the guy taking me out, asked me if I wanted a landing ¨with emotion¨, or ¨without emotion¨.  Despite what a certain someone might say about me being too emotional, I chose to land ¨with emotion¨.  As soon as I said that, Ronaldo replied ¨good choice¨and put the hang glider into freefall, as we careened toward the beach below.  That was the best part, and I´m glad I chose the ¨emotional¨ending.

Below are some of the pictures of this experience.