Today I was soaring...

A few days ago I sent many e-mails and made quite a few phone calls in the hopes of finding a company through which I could do some hang gliding. But all my e-mails were returned and my phone calls were not answered...until today. Through numerous e-mails and phone calls, I got connected with a man named Tom, who offered to take me flying today. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I was just hoping that it would be a fun experience, and not cost too much! He called me at 9am and I met him at the airport at 9:30am. Well, it turns out Tom has his own two-seater plane! And he even let me fly it! We flew from the airport, over the countryside (Kenya looks much different from the air!) and landed in a tea field near his home. I met his wife, Susan, and her five beautiful horses. Their home was also very lovely- an English estate with tea fields on one side and rolling forests on the other. After picking up some things, we took off again and flew to Lake Nakuru. I got to pilot the plane for about half the trip- it was hard at first, but then I got the hang of it. It was so great to soar above the fields, trees, and mountains...it was just breathtaking. Anyways, we landed and met Tom's friend Christian. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, Christian offered to take us gliding! So Tom and I got situated in a little glider plane (without an engine) and Christian attached us to his plane with a rope. We took off and he pulled us up into the air; it reminded me of water skiing! Once we found a good thermal air movement, Christian let us go and we flew on our own. We followed the thermal up and up, making tight circles to stay with the cylinder of rising air. I actually got a little nauseous from all the circles, but after we leveled out I felt fine. Once we reached about 10,000 feet we left the thermal and glided back and forth, back and forth...all the way back down to earth. It was so awesome to just glide silently and smoothly through the air- I felt just like a bird! Once back on the ground, we had some lunch and prepared to head back to Nairobi. The flight back was also nice- I even spotted the places where I was rock climbing and hiking earlier this week! It was cool to see these places from a new angle, after having spent a good amount of time trekking/climbing them. As soon as we landed in Nairobi, I wanted to go back up again! I thanked Tom and Christian- it was because of their generosity and willingness to share their passion for flying that I got to have this incredible experience (for free!). They told me that "once you get your head in the clouds, that's the only place you want to be", and I think I definitely agree!