Zipping and Flying, How Fast Can We Go?

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The Canopy Tour just outside the town of Copan Ruinas is designed to thrill and generate a adrenaline for those who like such things. I tried a zipline in Costa Rica. I remember most when the guide pushed me off a platform while I faced backwards. The idea was to swing, tarzan like, back and forth in the trees. But he pushed me, and I wasn´t ready, so my head and back jerked, and presto, I had an instant chiropractic adjustment. It lasted for several days.This is what I remember most from my last zipline adventure.

Since ¨Canopy Tours¨are so popular in Costa Rica, Honduras had to have one, too. And this one is good--with 16 ziplines, the highest one is about 1km, I believe, above the ground, and the last line takes you over the Copan River for about 100 yards. Each zipline flight is fleeting but intense.

I couldn´t do this alone, so I begged my family to allow eight year old Dayana to go with me. Her aunt and grandmother said she would be afraid, but I said she wouldn´t. That little girl is fearless.

And fearless she was. On the first line she screamed the entire way--out of joy. On the second, she forgot to slow herself down near the end. I watched, horrified, as she approached at full speed the end of the cable that terminated at a large tree. The guide caught her, preventing a head on crash. On all the other cables, she talked incessantly, perhaps to the birds flying below. Overall, she was so excited about the whole experience.

The next morning Dayana slipped the sweetest thank you note, both in English and Spanish, under the door to my room. She drew a picture of us both flying through the air, correctly holding the cable with one hand, and holding our harness with the other. We both wore huge grins.

The photos tell most of the story.

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Photos

Before the Zipline Canopy Tour
Dayana shakes her huge gloves. She´s confidant she can do it.

But I´m Really not so sure
I try to reassure Dayana.