For Tims birthday i wanted to take him paragliding in this town that Lonely Planet quotes is the best place in the world to fly! OluDeniz is this wonderful little cove.. at the base of the BabaDags (big daddy mountains- rough translation) We camped at a lagoon and enjoyed the most beautiful clear blue water and white sand beach... The next day we found ourselves in the company of Hector- a dark and husky Turkish paraglide pilot with a sandal tan that some would kill for and a lovely sister named Sonja, who practiced her english with us over fanta and cookies while we waited to leave town for the take off point.
Trundling up the BabaDag with three Brits and a slew of pilots and random people jumping on board our rugged jeep bus of sorts...the views just kept getting more dramatic..as did the knots in my stomach... Passing by makeshift shepherds huts and rocky cliffs, we continued up for quite some time...finally, the top! 900 meters up was a turnaround for the jeep buses, bags and gear were being flung to the ground and 10 yards off, a paragliding sail caught the wind and a lone body scurried down the rocky take off and sailed straight out from the cliffs edge and up up and away...
'yes yes..you to paraglide... please.. here your pilot...suit for you?? yes yes... (latch latch clip clip) start run now and no stop...GO!' I didnt even have time to think 'hey wait, dont i need to sign a waiver for this or something? i dont even know my pilots name!' I was first, and I was off! Thermals kept pulling our sail higher and higher...over the butterfly valley and out over the Med... it was the most peaceful experience ive ever had.... Tim didn't have such a smooth ride, but luckily he wasn't the one to puke... poor old brıt guy!
