Paragliding adventures in Kenya

Extreme sports such as bungee jumping, wing suit flying, sky diving and paragliding are gaining popularity in the country as people look to participate in the sports either for recreation or simply for the love of adventure.

Paragliding is a sport that few people in the country know about despite it being one that attracts many foreign visitors during the paragliding season.

Kerio Valley is one place loved by foreign paragliders who come during the December to April season when its winter in their countries.

Some of the other places that one can paraglide in the country is at the Ngwesi valley in Laikipia East, Dagoretti and in Iten which have favourable weather conditions for paragliding all year round.

However, the sport which requires one to train to be a certified pilot before flying is foreign to most Kenyans.

Training which is done in Europe and South Africa has remained a dream for most due to the high cost - which is progressive, as well as the high cost of buying and maintaining the paragliding equipment.

The few who have an interest in the sport have to ride as a passenger with a certified pilot on a tandem glider before they can go on their own.

Marrian Hunter is one of the few tandem pilots in the country which makes his calendar a busy one all year round. He has been a paraglider for almost 10 years now, since he was 15. He learnt the sport from his father and immediately got hooked.

This took him to the Himalayas to hone his flying skills but he later came back to Kenya where he further improved as he glided on the hills and beach cliffs.

Hunter broke the world record six months ago in the 100km tandem flight speed record. While gliding for leisure, he saw that many people have an interest in flying on a glider which he was happy to introduce. His interest was to have people share the experiences in the skies.

He is now a full-fledged professional tandem pilot.

This August and in September, he is booked in Nanyuki where he will be tourists in Borana on tandem flights, October will see him take a group of adventure seekers to Kijabe Hill on tandem flights too.

Machakos and the Kilifi are also famous paragliding venues depending on the winds.

On his Paraglide Kenya website and on social media, Hunter often engages paragliding fans on where he will be next. He also arranges for private safaris and group events.

Kerio Valley in the Rift Valley is the most famous venue with professional gliders, the reason why droves of paragliders from Europe and America gather there annually for this sport.

The groups usually stay at the Kerio View hotel which is next to the launching spot.

Joseph Mwangi, the hotel manager says they host paragliders who come to compete and make new paragliding records.

“Almost 90 per cent of the paragliders who come during the December to April period are from Europe since it is winter in their countries,” he says.

It is during this season that temperatures are warm in the valley and the winds are strongest making it a suitable place to paraglide. In order to paraglide for long hours, the thermo-currents should be high in the valley.

The average hours spent by a paraglider is 4 hours, however the record time so far at Kerio valley is seven hours. The minimum charge for a tandem flight is Sh8,000 per person for a 20-30 minute flight depending on the winds.

The hotel grounds act as a take-off and landing launch for the paragliders as it is just off the cliff of Kerio Valley.

Although the sport is favourite of many foreigners, Mwangi says Kenyans are slow in taking it up as few know about it.

“Those who know about the sport only come to watch during this season and to get a ride in the tandem glider,” he says adding that one must be trained in order to be a paraglider.

Chris Foot, the current chairman of Kenya Film Commission is one of the few Kenyans who have taken up the paragliding course in the UK and occasionally practices it.

“I am an occasional paraglider who does it mainly as a hobby whenever I have time,” he says.

Paragliding course

To learn how to paraglide, one needs certification which requires one to take more than 10 individual solo pilot standard courses from beginner to advanced levels as well as many additional programmes.

As a start, one is encouraged to discover paragliding through a tandem flight where they ride as passengers.

The next course is the Pilot levels which are taken consecutively as an open sky pilot, adventure pilot, APPI pilot before getting to the Advanced Pilot stage.

One then takes up the professional level courses where one starts as an Open Sky tandem pilot, APPI tandem pilot, Assistant instructor, APPI instructor to a Master instructor, which is the highest level one can achieve as a paraglider.

The other qualifications are making records in the different categories such as the number of hours one can paraglide, the speed at which one paraglides and how high they reached while paragliding.