Parachute jumping at Évora
Total Cost: (if going alone by car): 250,6€
Mood: Adventure with friends!
Diesel Costs (round trip of 268km): 21€
Tolls (round trip from Lisboa): 17,60€
Food: buy it on the Supermarket and eat along the way. We’ve spent around 7€ per person
Mood: Adventure with friends!
Diesel Costs (round trip of 268km): 21€
Tolls (round trip from Lisboa): 17,60€
Food: buy it on the Supermarket and eat along the way. We’ve spent around 7€ per person
Tandem Jump Price: 115€ (3.000 meters)
Photo and/or film: 60€ (1 service), 90€ (2 services)
Photo and/or film: 60€ (1 service), 90€ (2 services)
Last weekend I’ve decided to take good care of me (or not) and went to
Évora to do a parachute jump, more accurately a tandem jump! I know that lots
of people did it already but for me it was a première!
The first task is to get to Évora and that is the easiest task in the
journey! Évora is a lovely town and one of the biggest in Alentejo. You take
about 2 hours to get there from Lisbon even if you go by secondary roads, which
do take longer but are beautifull!
I’ve decided to go by the mainroad up to montemor-o-novo where I’ve stoped
to buy my breakfast and rest a bit. We’ve arrived Évora at noon and went
straight to the Arcada Café, one the most famous coffee shops in town known by
their Queijadas – a cake done with cheese and milk.
The coffee shop is expensive, probably because it’s so famous... we payed
around 7€ for a coke and an orange juice. If you want to lunch there, inside
you’ll find Cervejaria Lusitana where you can eat steaks with coffee sauce for
20€ the plate. A small warning, the bathrooms… very scary!
We were a bit scary to stay sick if we’ve eaten before the jump so we did skip that part
and decided to walk around the small city streets and shops. Évora is a
wonderful historical city where you can find a roman temple next to the most
beautiful Christian church. It is worth to visit the so called “bones chapel”
and the church, as well as all the little streets with small handcraft stores that
are not that expensive.
Around 2 p.m. we left the magical city of Évora and went to the aerodormo
of Évora which is around 10 minutes by car from the center. The way is well
indicated on the roads but if you’re like me a GPS is never too much…
There’s parking literally at the door rand after that you just have to go to the skydive tent, not far away from the main entrance. I’ve chosen to do the jump with this company since the web reviews are very good!
The first thing that happens when you arrive is hearing the staff telling you how good would be for you if you upgraded the jump from 3.000 meters to 4.000. It costs 40€ plus but the time you’ll be in free-fall is bigger.
Secondly because each flight takes 8 to 10 people and don’t you think that you’ll arrive and you’ll find no jumpers! We didn’t lunch because we were scared to jump with food in our stomachs but the truth is we waited 2 hours! Some go to the city after sing in and you came back one hour later…
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Me preparing for the jump!
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Finally we do see people jumping and coming back from their jumps and even the one that can’t pull it together and panic on the airplane.
Extra reason for women: for each 5 men jumping you have 1 woman. When you arrive you see families supporting their men but you don’t see much women joining them! You have plains that leave with not a single woman on board….
Finally, after 2 hours they cal your name. They make you dress na full jumper suit and they explain you how the jump will be: you are literally glued to a person that will jump with you from a plane. Tehy leave it clear that no matter what you nothing will put you in danger! They are in complete control 100% of the time! Good to know J
Everyone from the staff is truly nice and helpful although they take about
50.000 photos because they really want you to buy it and then you enter the
plain and start realizing you WILL really jump out of an airplane!
I admit that until I actual jumped I didn’t think I would be able to, I entered the plain shaking and I shacked even more when they opened the door… that was the only time I though “oh my God I AM 3.000 meters above ground” and that’s high!
The first person jumps, they the second and out of the blue (or maybe not)
it’s my turn and I don’t have time to think, and I’m falling… and…. How do you breathe really? Honestly,
how do you breathe? That will be you thought for the next 20 seconds!
Suddenly the parachutes opens and what a feeling! You automatically start
laughing “YES” you are alive and sightseeing from high above the city of Évora.
Landing is really easy for those whom are short, you just lift your legs,
that it!
After 2 hours of waiting you’re done in 2 minutes! In the end I was really
happy I didn’t jump higher…
After landing it’s time to watch the movie and photos. If you buy 2 services you’ll pay 90€, if you only buy one it will cost 60€. I bought both but truth is the pictures are taken form the movie so if you’re patient enough you can freeze the best shots from the movie and only but one service! When you are filming you have the tendency to speak a lot… it’s not worth it because the movie will have music all the time.
Honestly I don’t plan to jump again so I bought both movie and pictures!
It was an unforgettable experience and a different weekend!
