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Published: October 27th 2009
Greetings friends,
Today has been my favorite day in Costa Rica so far. I woke up around 7:15 to the amazing sound of the ocean and birds. Our alarm was set for 7:40 so i knew it wouldn't be long before Myles was forced to rise as well. I was so excited about our zipline adventure that i decided to start getting ready. While living here i haven't been doing much in the mornings to get ready. Typically i get up put on some shorts and a tank top, brush my teeth and hair, grab my shoes and i am ready. When i was ready Myles got up and thew on some pants with his hiking boots and we ate a breakfast of Mexican sweet bread with bananas and water. We didn't want to eat too much in case the ziplines were stomach churning. (we had no idea what to expect.) At about 8:30 we left our house and walked to the nearby Perla Negra hotel (where we tricked that poor girl into serving us drinks the other day.) which is the location where the tour bus was to come pick us up.
They arrived about 10 minutes later
and we were off. The driver, a young surfer-esq white guy, informed us it was about a half hour drive to the zipline location. The drive there was crazy and the car was a little outdated for it. The seat belts wouldn't work, but i could tell the driver/guide was highly experienced in his off road driving, so i felt ok. The scenery along the way was deep jungle and poor farms. I have heard stories on others blogs about the emaciated animals running around town, but i hadn't seen that so far myself. But, today, on the drive to the ziplines, i could see what they were talking about. The fields and jungle were littered with cows that looked half starved, which is something that i can not understand since they were surrounded by lush vegetation. On our driving adventure we drove through 2 creeks and ascended many steep hills. I felt like i was on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. When we arrived at the tour location our guide led us up a steep hill to a small house. As we were approaching the house he pointed out a small wire cable crossing a HUGE ravine hundreds
of feet above the ground. "there's your first launch point" he said. I looked at the girl standing next to me and thought "yeah fuckin' right." Turns out he wasn't lying. After a verrrry short lesson on how to be safe on the tiny cable lines, we were suited up and ready to go. I joked with one of the other ziplinees that the harnesses were a very interesting way to display people. He thought that was really funny. After being offered a "good bye" drink of vodka and lime (which all of us refused) we headed out to the first plat form. I will post a picture of what this looks like. I was the one trying to convince Myles to go, and it ended up that i almost turned chicken and decided it wasn't for me. But in the end i got hooked up to the cable and pushed off the edge.
The ride wasn't as scary as i thought it would be. Each actual ride was so short you barley got to look at the scenery and then it was over. The first ride was the longest and scariest. It was amazing though. The views that
you got of the rain forest could only be otherwise viewed from a helicopter. On each run i would try to look down, and glance in every direction available to get the most out of each experience. On the tour we met two really nice British girls (Hanna and V) and a family of four, who were visiting their daughter who is currently living just south of Perto Viejo. Everyone on the tour was extremely nice and supportive of each other. Its kind of cliche, but doing this kinda of life changing thing with someone else definitely created a bond with strangers. During the tour i overcame a slight fear of heights and big drops and Myles just tried his best not to go too fast and run into trees. lol. We both had an amazing experience and i hope the pictures do it justice. If not, tomorrow we will be posting a video that we bought from the guides. On the third to last platform we were offered a choice of going on the "Tarzan swing" or doing another zipline (there were 15 lines in all.) Myles chose to do another zipline, and i chose the Tarzan swing. Myles'
zipline run that time was really fun because the two men at either end of the line were moving the line up and down, which made the ride a little bumpy and interesting. As i said i chose to go on the Tarzan swing. This was a large rope attached to a tree far up in the canopy which i was harnessed to and swung over a deep ravine. The ride on it was slightly scary with a major dose of adrenaline rush. Two more ziplines later it was time to jump off the last plat form. We were at the highest point of our trip and i got some really pretty pictures of the forest below. I was sad to see the adventure end, since it was amazing, and i would do it again in a heart beat, but it was nice to get the helmet and harness gear off. Once we got back to the beginning, cups of cold water and fresh fruit were waiting for us. This was so amazing after a long sweaty hike and zipline tour. It was like a little piece of heaven. When we were all finished up, Myles and i asked the
two British girls if they would like to meet us for dinner later. They agreed and we planned on going to one of our favorite restaurants in town (El Dorado) for dinner and drinks.
After we were dropped off at home by our tour guide we headed in and took off our boots. Putting on lighter clothing and sandals was amazing after the long hot trip back. The ziplines were awesome, but we were glad to be home. For lunch (it was only like 12:30) we had fresh bread, beef jerky (thanks George), and some screwdrivers. Just relaxing on the porch was the best thing until we had to get ready for dinner. At around 3:30 we finally decided to get ready to go out. We took a shower and brushed our teeth and we were ready to go. We left for the restaurant at around 4:30. Because of our earlier drinks we made it to town in record time. We arrived at El Dorado right on time, grabbed a table, and ordered some happy hour specials. Our dinner companions were a little late(like 45 minutes) but we were so stoked to see them. It turns out one of
the girls left a hundred dollar bill in her hotel room and someone stole it. They were later because they were trying to figure out it they had just misplaced it or not. After expressing our sympathies, we ordered dinner. Nachos con pollo again for me (amazing) and a chicken burrito for Myles. The food at El Dorado is really good and their happy hour drinks are strong and cheap so we were stoked. After splitting the bill we headed to Rockin Js to check out the night time scene. We have never made it their after dark so we were interested to see what it would be like. Not much happening their though (it is a Monday after all). We had a drink and walked around the property exploring. When we got bored we headed down the road to Mona Bonita. This restaurant is situated right on the beach on a second story, so you can sit, sipping your drink and watch the people pass by on the ground below. They had a local band playing calypso music, so talking was kind of out of the question, but we listened and had a good time (which was good because
i think we were all very tired for the long day of ziplining and whatnot.) Two screwdrivers, a rum n coke, and one banana split later it was time to head for home. The bartender called us both cabs and we said our good byes. I got both of the girls e-mails with a promise to send them the pics i took tonight. After short taxi ride we are home. Now i am just sitting here listening to the monkeys in the tree above writing this, while Myles sleeps in the hammock. I think i wore him out. lol. Good night friends, i will write again tomorrow. For those of you who are waiting for an e-mail reply from me: i promise i will get to it tomorrow. Today was too long to spend on the internet, except for in passing, simply to write this. Good night all.
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Katie
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WHERES THE VIDEO???
Hey Guys! I missssssss you soooooo MUCH! Poor little Evie was so scared tonight! We had a little pizza dinner for Kaleigh with Benny, Will, Sonia, and Marianne(Sonias mom) Evie was ok with Sonia, Benny and Will but when Marianne came Evie got all stressed out and kept putting her tail up into her belly and running away! Anyway I gave Marianne some doggie pretzels and Evie wouldnt even take them! Poor baby! ANYWAY.... I CAN NOT FIND THE VIDEO... PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW TO GET IT! LOVE YOU GUYS!