Parahawking in Pokhara

• Fly with a Trained Raptor: A vulture or kite launches with you, guides the wing into thermals and lands on your gloved hand in flight.

• It Exists Nowhere Else: Parahawking was invented in Pokhara and is not offered commercially anywhere else in the world.

• A Conservation Project: A share of every flight funds vulture conservation after Nepal's ninety-nine per cent population collapse.

• The Birds Are Rescues: Every bird flown was rescued and could not be released, and none is bred for the activity.

• Thirty to Forty-Five Minutes: Longer than a standard tandem, above Phewa Lake with the Annapurnas behind.

You launch from Sarangkot on a standard tandem wing with your pilot. The bird launches separately from the same ridge and joins you in the air. Because raptors read thermals far better than any human or variometer, the bird finds the lift first and the pilot follows it — which is the practical point of the exercise as well as the spectacle.

At intervals your pilot will ask you to hold out a gloved hand with a small piece of buffalo meat. The bird comes in, lands on the glove, takes the food and drops away again. It happens several times in a flight. The wingspan of an Egyptian vulture at arm's length, in the air, at 1,800 m, is not something most people forget.

South Asia's vulture populations collapsed catastrophically from the 1990s onward — by more than ninety-nine per cent in some species — after the anti-inflammatory diclofenac, given to cattle, proved fatal to birds that fed on the carcasses. Nepal banned the veterinary use of the drug in 2006 and has since built a network of 'vulture safe zones' and community feeding sites.

Parahawking was created partly to fund that work and partly to change public attitude: a bird people regard as filthy becomes something else entirely when it lands on your hand at altitude. A defined share of every flight goes to vulture conservation, and the operator works with the local breeding and release programme. The birds flown are rescues — injured or imprinted animals that could not survive release.

November to March is the parahawking season, which is shorter than the general paragliding season. The birds fly in stable winter air and are rested outside it, so this is not available year-round and books out well in advance — if you want it, reserve early rather than hoping to arrange it on arrival in Pokhara.

Flights are cancelled for rain, high wind or poor visibility, and also on any day the handler judges the birds should not fly, which is not negotiable. If we cancel you can rebook or take a full refund. Because the season is short and the daily capacity is small, a cancelled slot may not be re-flyable within your stay, so build in flexibility.

Minimum age 16, minimum weight 35 kg, maximum 95 kg. You cannot fly with a heart condition, uncontrolled epilepsy, a recent fracture or if you are pregnant. You need to be able to run a few steps at launch and stand at landing.

Bring warm layers — winter mornings at 1,800 m are cold — closed shoes with ankle support, sunglasses and sunscreen. The glove is provided. Do not wear anything loose or flapping and do not bring a hat that can come off. Follow the handler's instructions about the bird exactly and without improvising: these are wild animals doing something they have been trained to do, not pets.

• Parahawking in Pokhara: The Complete Guide — A tandem paraglide flown alongside a trained bird of prey that finds the thermals for you and comes to your gloved hand in mid-air.

• Paragliding in Pokhara: One of the World's Best Flying Sites — A 1,000 m launch at Sarangkot, reliable thermals, a lake to land beside and an 8,000 m massif behind.