Jan 18, 2010

Flying with hawks - Parahawking in Nepal

In 2001 the owners of Sunrise Paragliding in Nepal, Rajesh Bomjan and Adam Hill, quite by chance met up with Scott Mason, a falconer from England. Realizing that birds of prey rely on thermals to assist them in gliding long distances, in much the same way as paragliders do, these three men decided to blend the modern techniques of paragliding with the ancient art of falconry – the result of this collaboration is parahawking.
Scott Mason has been based in Pokhara ever since, training and flying birds during the dry season between September and March. Participants learn how to handle the birds in the correct way and receive instruction on how best to co-operate with the bird to enhance the paragliding experience. The first parahawking flight is tandem with one of the instructors. Participants are shown how the bird guides the paraglider pilot to the thermals and then retrieves an edible reward from the fist of the pilot.







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