When: April 6th
Where: Pokhara, Nepal
Why: Skydiving seems to be on a lot of bucket lists. To me, that holds no appeal. I just imagine the anxiety leading up to it would override any thrill it might hold. I know that most people say that once they've jumped, they can't wait to do it again. So, I'll politely decline and keep the spaces available for their next descent. In the meantime, I did still feel a desire to be in the sky, and have thought about paragliding for quite some time. When the opportunity arose to go paragliding with a trained rescued vulture, I was completely sold and started making plans to make it happen. As plans fell into place, we started seeing more press about the Parahawking Project, which was developed to raise awareness of the need for vulture conservation in Nepal and India, and was recently featured in the first episode of the PBS series Earth: A New Wild.
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| Kevin...in the car... |
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| Selfie with Damu, my fearless guide |
Just as I was about to run off the launch area in the afternoon, I was starting to get nervous. Luckily, this was a tandem flight, so I could fully trust my guide - Damu - with my life as we hurtled into mid-air and hoped for the right thermal currents to carry us. This is where Kevin - the Egyptian Vulture - comes in handy. Watching for him in the air, it gave me a distraction to take my mind off the height, and it gave me a completely unique and amazing view of what these birds can do in the air. Anytime Kevin found a new thermal (his eyesight is incredible), we followed him, then we would call him to feed him a treat as a thank-you for his help. Each time he came in for a treat, he landed on my gloved arm, then took off again with such ease and elegance.
The views, the feeling, the entire experience are all very difficult to put into words,
especially now that my memories of the trip to Nepal are so bittersweet
as I read about the destruction and widespread suffering after the
April 25th earthquake. 
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