This was the day we had prepared for and looked forward to since we booked the trip. Later in the afternoon, we were going to tour the cloud forest by zipping through it at 50 or 60 miles per hour. But first, we would tour the cloud forest in a less exhilarating way. We lost a few members of our tour group before we even left the cabins. Sonia, Shiralee’s traveling partner, and Nathaniel had already thrown up. Shiralee rode with us to the Cloud Forest Reserve, but had to call a cab immediately.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was very nice. They only let a few hundred people in at a time, and every group has to be accompanied by a trained guide. Our guide’s name was Roberto. He was a local Costa Rican, but he spoke excellent English. He also looked like Johnny Depp or Russell Crowe, and was almost as dramatic. He was quite passionate about his job, and very well-informed.
He carried around a Swarovski scope, which provided some excellent views of birds and tiny flowers. We saw some really neat birds and other creatures, but not the Resplendent Quetzal, which is the grand prize to any birdwatcher. We even saw a hummingbird sitting on a branch – I didn’t even know hummingbirds had feet! The cloud forest was beautiful, and reminded me of the forests of Oregon and Washington – deep and dark and foggy.
We ate lunch at a European-style bakery named Stella’s. They had excellent chicken sandwiches and lentil soup. I had a coffee milkshake. I didn’t expect it to be vanilla ice cream and coffee grounds. After lunch, Mere walked over to a women’s co-op, and bought a funny frog puppet.
We got back to the cabins with about 45 minutes to rest before embarking on our Extremo Canopy Tour. Everybody was able to compose themselves for the tour. I suppose the anticipation and adrenaline did something to stay up everybody’s stomachs. Mere was afraid, but she was being strong and shoring up her courage. So much so that when we finally harnessed up and got to the first zipline platform, she was the very first of the entire group to go.
The first couple of lines were about 100-150 meters long. They stretched through the treetops, but for the most part they were over before you had a chance to evaluate the situation. We also weren’t that high above the ground. This was until the first really long line. We climbed up a platform resembling a cell phone tower and faced out toward a ravine. The line stretched out over 500 meters in front of us across the ravine – we couldn’t see the other end because it reached into the forest again. It actually bowed in the middle. It was truly a testament to the laws of physics.
Once latched in, the rules were the same as before - keep one hand on the line as your brake and the other on your harness – except I became acutely aware how exposed I was. It was just a couple of fabric straps keeping me suspended from that cable. The wind flew in my face and I also could feel it pushing me back and forth on the cable. I held my arm behind me, not to brake, but because I feared I would start spinning becaue of the crosswind. At one point, I was at least two hundred feet above the bottom of the ravine. Mere had gone first however, and it made me feel better that she was already over it. I was afraid I would get stuck in the middle, and have to pull myself hand-over-hand hundreds of meters to the other platform while trying to not look down.
That didn’t happen to me though. Dave and Frank got stuck on one of the long ones, but it was only a couple of dozen yards from the end where they weren’t so exposed. Once again, the laws of physics were on my side. Gravity gave me velocity, and I provided the mass, so momentum carried me through.
After another couple of long zips, we were treated to a “surprise”. Several of us were piling up on a platform attached to a tree 50 meters above the ground, but there was no zipline leading from it. We surmised that we had to rappel down. This caused Meredith much discomfort, especially because we were left alone on the cramped and overpopulated platform to contemplate our fate for quite a while. I was worried she might pass out from panic if we were to stay up there much longer. Once again, and not by her own choice, she went before me. This rappelling experience was much different than in La Fortuna. We had no control over our descent. In fact, our guides took joy in simply letting us freefall until a few feet from the ground. Mere screamed the whole way, and burst into tears at the bottom, repeating “No bueno, no bueno”.
The next surprise came immediately, and was optional. If we so chose, and I chose, we could take a Tarzan swing out over the ravine. About half of our group bowed out, including Meredith and Zaida. I was strapped in on the platform. The guide told me it was okay. I asked him “okay to what, walk out?” and took a few steps expecting him to tell me I wasn’t ready yet. Perhaps the scariest part was the step off the platform into nothingness. I was going to scream; it was involuntary. I formed my best jungle man scream. After ten meters of freefall, the swing caught me, and I zoomed out over the ravine. Had the line broken, I would have continued to fly into the ravine to my death. The line caught me, and I was moving just as fast back toward the direction of the platform. I went back and forth a few times until I’d lost enough angular momentum for the guides to catch me and unhook me.
After this thrill, the last cable – the longest at over 700 meters - was a mere bother. We returned to the office and gave a good cheer for everybody for their intestinal fortitude. This was the best adventure of the trip. The rest of the day was a blur. We went out to dinner as a group to a restaurant built around a big tree. I had my first Imperial, mostly out of boredom with Coca Cola at that point. I relished telling my squeamish mother that night on the phone about the ziplines.
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