Jonny Durand <<jonnyjnr80>>
writes:

After a week of dental work it was finally time to go flying at
Raul's local site that he cleared here in Bototilla, Ecuador. The takeoff stands
only 300m high but if you time it right it works like a treat. I was first to
takeoff with Raul right behind me as I went right I was rewarded with a 600fpm
climb to 1200m. I was told we needed 900m to make the 5km crossing over the back
of the mountain to the next landings.

It was clear to me there was a convergence set up and it was taking us well to
the west of our chosen flight path for the day. Raul started to head towards our
declared goal and I quickly wound down to escort him a different way. We had no
radio today so I had to improvise. Once I got Raul under my wing he followed me
along the convergence line stopping for only the best lift.

We went a way that no one else normally goes apparently because there is not
lots of landing but still sufficient. I flew the whole way with Raul topping out
to around 1700m maximum for the day. I went on one glide and Raul turned around
cause he did not feel comfortable with the landings and soon after I hit a 400
fpm climb back to cloudbase which gave me enough height to break the record and
then fly back to the closest town so I could call for my retrieve.

When I landed I was surrounded by kids and other fellow natives who were all
super friendly. They lent me a telephone brought me cold water and even posed
for some pictures. They watched closely how I packed up my glider and then help
me carry it to the main road which was only 100 meters away. One kid even had a
hang gliding shirt on which is pretty amazing considering where I had landed
they had never seen a hang glider before.

I was surprised on how good the flying was here and it really reminded me of the
convergence days I get back home at my local site. This seems to be the key
factor in flying this place is knowing how to pick the convergence line. I have
two more days here so lets see if we can go further again.

I flew a straight line distance of 90.8kms and a total distance today of 106.9km
with some turnpoints. For the full flight details check out the flight here
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/821874.