Sunday, February 20, 2011

Ziplining and Rainforest Bridges (need I say more!)

It was quite a morning. We split into two groups. One group started on the bridge walk, the other went ziplining.

Since my group went hiking first. We'll start there. It was a short ride on the buses to get to the beginning of the footpath. We walked for about two hours. The path was well-maintained. We were surrounded by green on all sides. Every now and then, a gorgeous valley would appear. Across it was a metal, hanging bridge. These bridge varied in length from 20 or 30 feet to as much as 100 yards (?, just guessing). As we crossed the bridges, there was often water below. I can't begin to guess how far down the drop was. Let's just say it was substantial.

There were times when while we were walking on a bridge that we'd look up or down and see other group members walking across the same open vista on another one.

Did I mention it was raining throughout? Just a nice light rain. It kept us cool and many kids commented about the mist adding to the "rainforest" feeling.

Some of us (myself included) were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of some "Capuccino Monkeys" jettisoning themselves from tree to tree, high in the canopy. Oh, and did I mention the enormous sloth in the tree just outside our dining area at breakfast?

It's hard to know what to say about the ziplining. Totally exhilarating! There were 12 legs. Some quite short, others seemingly endless. Truly, on a couple of them, even though the view ahead was quite open, you couldn't see the next platform. (There was a lot of trust involved, of both personnel and equipment.)

No one warned us just how dirty we would get. Some of us were covered in spotted mud. Others, mysteriously, less so.

Upon our return, we got cleaned up and had lunch. To our surprise, during lunch a group of local young dancers, boys and girls, performed traditional Costa Rican dance for us. They even got a few of us onto the dance floor.

Now, the kids have a couple of hours to hang out. Most will find one of the several small hot springs on the property.

Some of the kids on Bus #1 wrote down some comments on the ziplining experience. Here are a few:

Ziplining was UNREAL and we all wished we could do it again! And we saw a few monkeys int he jungle. Our legs are tired. GOOD day. (Maddie)

Ziplining was AWESOME! Coolest thing I've ever done! Miss you. (Lindsay)

Ziplining was incredible! Miss my fam. (Ali)

AHH! I LOVE ZIP LINING!" (Oliver)

Ziplining was the most exhilerating experience of my life. (Timothy)

Ziplining makes the top 10 coolest things I've done in my life. Love you. (Emily H.)

Ziplining was so much fun and the views on the bridges were AMAZING! I had a fantastic time, and it was great to be able to share these once in a lifetime moments with some of my closest friends! Pura Vida! (James F.)

If ziplining was a woman, I would marry her!!!! (Cody)

Ziplining was brilliant! Even though it turned my armpit brown. (Lori)

2 comments:

  1. Bravo! Brown armpits and mud aside, it sounds like a blast! Pls. post any pix when you can. ♥ from NYC

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a wonderful experience! Hope we get to see pictures .....

    ReplyDelete