Paragliding
Here’s what happened when two paragliders took an epic flight in the middle of the Namibian desert.
“I wish I had a magic door at home. Whenever the weather is bad, I could go through it and arrive in one of the most amazing spots on Earth.” Don’t worry Jean-Baptiste Chandelier, we're here to make your dreams come true. The last episode of our Namibian trip – watch the first episode featuring a kayaker riding the sand dunes – tells the story of how this paraglider was catapulted (well... virtually) into the middle of the desert with the best acro-pilot in the world, Tim Alongi.
Check out the gallery below
Together, the French flyers experienced sliding along the big dunes while having their feet heated by the hot sand below. “Namibia is a dream spot to fly close to the ground,” says Alongi. With hundreds of kilometers of dunes, you literally burn your feet while flying at full speed.
JB Chandelier, the flying king of the desert
“Conditions were tough on this trip," says Alongi, who won the World Air Games in 2015. “But that’s part of the job. Otherwise, we’d stay at home watching TV.”
Flying in the middle of the desert is definitely a big challenge for paragliders. Wind conditions change constantly. But the reward is even bigger once you manage to take off and follow the lines of these mountains of sand that can reach more than 300m high.
Tim Alongi and Jean-Baptiste Chandelier are two of the world’s best paragliders
“The dunes are so huge in Namibia,” says Alongi. You have the feeling they never end. You can stay for hours flying with the feet sliding on the ground.” Go through Jean-Baptiste Chandelier’s door right now by watching the video in the player above and get lost in the desert.
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