Kite Lessons - Take 1

I now think I know what it`s like to take a violent beating.

I´m sure kiteboarding lessons are designed to torture every single muscle in your body. Even without the dramatic high-impact crashes my arms and shoulders are sore frosteeringng the kite, my neck is killing me from constantly looking up in the sky and my legs are in agony from straining to walk the kite upwind against the resistance of the 25 knot wind. Basically everything hurts.

I took the three day introductory kite course with a Dutch couple who have recently moved to Brazil. The guy, Juli, has just finished a few years of modeling in Paris and wants to get out of "the hectic life". Me and a British guy who hangs around the school have nicknamed him Zoolander because he was telling us that he`s never read an entire book in his life. Anyway, the course was taught by a really chilled out Austrian dude named Haki (standing behind Juli and Kim in the picture below). The first day of the course was all on land just learning safety aspects and how to steer the kite. Day two was all in the water without the board learning how to "body-drag" by flying the kite through the power zones. Day three was the big day with the board and unbelievably I got a few of really good rides right away. The learning curve for kiting is a lot like snowboarding - the first two days are a complete write-off and then suddenly day three is magic.



This sport is a great mix between Snowboarding, Wakeboarding and Windsurfing. I`m loving it. I`ve already made plans to extend my stay in Cumbuco by at least a week.

Oh, a number of you got the right answer (Pulp Fiction) to the quote prize but there seems to be some controversy. Megan was the first to post the answer on the blog but Watson was the first to reply by email. I was leaning towards giving the prize to Watson because according to the time-stamped video replay he technically submitted his answer first. But, after consulting with the judges, it looks as though we have a tie. Both can expect a South American gift upon my return.