FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2025

PURE ADRENALINE AND PURE RELAXATION

Whenever I travel with Flash Pack, I ideally like to tack on an extra day or two at the beginning and/or end to explore on my own, and as I was researching Rio I found that one of the most iconic things to do is hang gliding over the spectacular harbor. I do love a good adrenaline thing but had never really considered hang gliding as I naturally assumed it was probably unsafe to just be hanging in the air at the whim of the wind, but after digging in I found that it’s a really common activity here, and that as long as you go with one of the two reputable companies (where you fly tandem with an instructor), it has an impeccable safety record. So I decided to take the plunge!

But before my adventure, I enjoyed a particularly excellent breakfast at the [Rio hotel] with some people from the Flash Pack trip before checking out and moving to the Fairmont Copacabana, where I had booked myself for a splurge stay for the end of my trip.

During the Flash Pack trip, I had mentioned that I was planning to hang glide this morning and invited anyone to join me, and was excited that Jenn from our group was feeling adventurous! Always more fun to have a friend with you, especially for such a memorable activity.

I checked out and the two of us grabbed an Uber to the nearby Fairmont to pre-check in and drop my stuff, and we were soon picked up by the [company] who drove us to Sao Conrado Beach where the gliders and parasailers land and the company has its main base set up.

Reaching the top, it was a short walk to the launch area, which was busy with the crew getting the gliders ready, and instructors getting their passengers geared up and walking them through how this all works. The launch area had two different platforms – the top one for hang gliders, and then directly below it the launch platform for paragliders.

I looked up the difference since I didn’t really know, other than the obvious that they look different: but paragliding is a little more relaxed, and you’re sitting up straight in like a seat harness, with an arched parachute over you as you float down to earth, as opposed to hang gliding where you’re flying face down and the rigid-framed triangular “wings” make for higher speeds and a little more adrenaline.

Jenn went first, and I watched as she got her harness on and learned the ropes from her instructor (and the owner of the company) [name].

And there she goes! (Apologies for the camera rogueness at the beginning, there was a bug on me 😅)

And then it was my turn. I went through the same demo/mini-training, where I learned where to put my hands for the beginning (one on my instructor___s shoulder, one holding a loop on my harness), and practiced what’s basically a burpee to get into position, as well as our synced run that would launch us off the platform. Most important thing to remember: once you start running into the air, you cannot stop!

I’m actually surprised that I had zero nerves doing this, I was just really excited! The flight itself was about 10 minutes in the air – you sort of zigzag swoop on the way down and then land very gently (!) on the beach. There was one moment in the air when we were far over the ocean and I looked down and saw the tiny ants that were people down on the beach and had a brief stomach backflip ‘oh shit we’re really high up and attached to nothing?!’ moment of panic, but otherwise it was a total rush and an absolutely spectacular view. I can’t imagine a better way to take in the natural beauty of Rio.

The flight itself comes with the option for all sorts of capture, including GoPros from both a front and side angle, as well as this unique 360° cam where using a specific app you can rewatch your flight and move your phone around to see any angle.

I’m guessing most people reading this don’t want to sit through a real-time 10 minute flight haha, so here’s a little highlight video showing a few different angles as well as my launch and landing.

Easily one of the coolest things I’ve experienced in my life.

Once we landed on the beach, we tandem-walked the glider over to a debarkation point, disconnected ourselves, and [name] started taking the poles out to fold it back up for the next flyer. Then right on the spot he uploaded all of the video footage to my phone.

Good to go with my videos, I found Jenn and we debriefed on the experience while enjoying some fresh-from-the-coconut coconut water. Really, they just bang a hole right into it and stick a straw in. So refreshing!

We ended up having to wait a little bit since we had misunderstood and left our purses in [name’s] car and he was back up at the top of the mountain, but eventually we got our stuff and grabbed our return ride back to the hotel.

Jenn and I said our goodbyes, and then I headed up to my now-ready room at the Fairmont. I knew it would be a beautiful hotel and a splurge, but didn’t expect it to be a suite! It was so pretty, especially the view of the Rio Harbor and Copacabana Beach from the balcony.

Beautiful view! After settling in for a few minutes, I headed down to the outdoor hotel restaurant to have some lunch. I ended up with this potato puree thing with shredded beef and a rice cracker, which was so different but really tasty!

After some time relaxing and walking around the hotel a little, I got ready for my afternoon “activity,” a long treatment at the Fairmont’s excellent spa. I always try to fit something like this in when I travel, as it’s a vacation after all and recharging before heading back to work is a must. I had the whole rest of the day free, so opted for a long “[treatment name]” as I like to try to pick something with a local flavor.

Here’s the description in the spa brochure: “