Zip Lining!

Our first day in Monteverde (Tuesday, April 29, 2014), we decided to go zip lining. We booked with Extremo, who picked us up at the hotel we had stayed at the night before. They picked us up with a large van full of other backpackers. I was sitting next to two other Canadians, Brian and Vanessa, who were also doing the same zip lining course as us. It was nice to finally have some other people to talk to who were a similar demographic and spoke the same language as me!

Ready for some zip lining!

We had signed up for their standard zip lining package without bungee jumping. This package included 13 ordinary zip lines, rappelling, a Tarzan swing, and a Superman zip line. When we arrived, they outfitted us with top and bottom harnesses, helmets, and leather gloves.

A zip line so long you
can't see the other end!

After a short demonstration on safety, we were ready to go. Our gloves had additional thick leather pieces attached to the palms for braking. We were instructed to keep one hand on the cable behind us, and grip the cable tightly to break. The other hand had to stay on the cord attaching our harness to the cable to prevent us from spinning. The first zip line was quite short so that we could learn the technique. It was really easy and a lot of fun already! We quickly moved up to longer zip lines

Tandem zip lining

For some of the longer zip lines, we went in pairs. The back person had to wrap their legs around the front person and was responsible for braking. I was in the front, so all I had to do was enjoy the ride!

A view of the mountains from a
platform high in the trees

The course eventually brought us to a metal platform at the top of a huge tree. It baffles me how they were able to build such a platform, especially in a rainforest on a mountain where it would be impossible to use a crane. There was a howler monkey hanging out in this tree. Unfortunately, the monkey was dark and far away so I could mostly just hear him howling and couldn't see him very well or get a good picture. We rappelled down this tree and then went to the Tarzan swing.

I'm Tarzan!

For the Tarzan swing, we were tied into a rope which was attached to a far away tree branch. The rope was probably 50m long! Once tied in, we had to jump off the platform. After a short free fall, we would swing back and fourth on this branch. Several people decided to skip this swing as they were scared of the free fall; I decided to go even though I was a little scared, because I knew I would regret it the next day if I skipped out. It took a lot longer for one person to swing on the Tarzan swing than to go on the zip lines before it, creating a bottleneck. As a result, I had a twenty minute wait during which I got quite nervous and kept having to talk myself out of backing out. Eventually, it was my turn and there was no turning back. The initial free fall and jolt as the rope went tight were not particularly enjoyable, but the rest of the swing was awesome! While the zip lines were noisy and vibrated as you move, the Tarzan swing was smooth and quiet - a nice change. It was actually quite relaxing and calming and I would say it was the best part of the whole course.

Hugh is Superman!

At the very end of the course was the Superman zip line. Rather than being attached at the front and hanging in a sitting position, we were attached by our feet and back. These attachments allowed us to fly through the rainforest in a lying-on-your-front position à la Superman. Since the position prevented the zip liner from braking, there was a spring at the other end to stop us. This zip line was also the longest zip line, being a full kilometer. At this point of the course, I was ready to be done zip lining, and didn't really like the idea of not being able to brake. They hadn't even explained how the braking system on the other end worked and this uncertainty made me uneasy about doing the Superman. Thankfully, Hugh ended up talking me out of backing out. The ride was pretty good. The view was excellent, and the feeling of the wind through my hair at those speeds was exhilarating. Unfortunately, the harness created a lot of uncomfortable pressure in my chest and the wind made my eyes water, detracting from the overall experience.

Hola!

At the main office for the zip lining company, there was a Scarlet Macaw who was quite friendly and said "¡Hola!". After our zip lining adventure we decided to switch hostels to stay with our new friends Bryan and Vanessa and the other Canadians they were also travelling with.