Dec 16 Parapenting

SO after Argentine time we finally got picked up by crazy parapenter 'Panchi de Mendoza' and sat in the back of a old blue Daihatsu for a bumpy ride up to the top of the foothills of the Andes. From here we were told that some of us would have to wait. SO Riki and I graciously waited while the rest of the group and Marissa and Emilie went first to run off a cliff into air.
We spent our time reclining in 2 portable deck chairs and drinking copious amoutns of water in the blazing sun before retiring first to an open air jeep and then a snooze in the old Daihatsu. By this time it was over an hour later so we were getting worried that the group had plummeted to their deaths somewhere in the hills, but then our fears were quelled when we saw them gently float down towards us and gracefully land.
Consequently Riki and I were next and we had a 30minute bone shaking ride up the hill in a crusty jeep with Alejandro and Panchi. After we arrived Riki had an impressively wet bum from sweat, and the new song 'I'm bringing sweaty back/I have a sweaty back' aka Justin Timberlake was initiated into history. We promptly geared up with our turtle shells and Beanie was honoured with wearing a helmet with leopard print lining and a mouthpiece. OOooh yea. Still don´t know who won the bet about what colour Beanie's eyes were. Chica mysteriosa...ahaha.
Murphey´s law set in and we ended up waiting for some wind, and as Panchi and Beanie moved around to try another angle it picked up and everyone else ended up jumping and we were the last jumpers of our group, with Riki showing the world her wonderful way how to run. God bless that girl and her long legs.
With Riki floating gently down to Earth, with a hop skip and a jump Beanie and Panchi elegantly entered the atmosphere as well. Such an amazing view! City of Mendoza, mountains, cement plants, the plains towards the city, riverbeds, and we had the luck of a church being nearby in case we needed to make any last requests before plummeting towards the ground after our parachute fails...
Thank goodness we survived but the medal of the day goes to Riki, who after our guides told us many times to run jumping off and landing, she decided to just put her legs down and not move. Yea that was real graceful Riki! Graceful landing of 10points (did that ground hurt by the way??)
Another incident that was awesome was Riki asking Alejandro a question and him responding 'Si preciosa' ..So argentine!
We then all got a sexy group photo with the jeep and conned the guides to drop at us a supermarket on the way home where we stocked up on prosciutto, cheeses, salami, fresh bread..and fruit, white wine and juice for Sangria. We walked back to the hostel fending off petrol station attendants, and arrived back and got right into the sangria and the food, facing envious stares from the other backpackers.
Riki ends up gorging herself on peanuts and we end up having to go for a walk and got sidetracked by icecream - chocolate with cherry and lemon mousse and Riki has fruit of the forest and .....then back to the hostel to finally go to sleep.