On Monday of our grand adventure, we were scheduled for Sky Adventures—hiking across superlatively long hanging bridges above the rainforest canopy, then riding a tram to the top of a mountain, then taking a series of ziplines down that total a ziplining distance of 1.7 miles.
This was it. This was the day for which the whole family chipped in and got Lizzy an insane superzoom camera. Our one lifetime chance to walk above the Costa Rican rainforest and see exotic birds and monkeys and flora.
Monday morning was socked in and raining again.
The kids put their best face on it.
We were apparently scheduled to tram and zipline first. When we were getting harnessed up in the processing center, I asked the guy harnessing me if he thought we’d see anything.
He said, “Yes. Rain.”
With that encouraging assurance, we took in the safety spiel as best we could (“Arms straight! Ankles crossed! Legs up! Spread your legs wide when you’re coming in to land. Brake by moving your clamp back and forth, not up and down, but only if they shake the zipline. No shake, no brake!”) and filed into our Sky Tram.
Back home, Maddie was praying hard for our weather, and the rain eased as we rode the slow tram up the mountain above the canopy.
At the top, we could see a good bit of Lake Arenal.
We could also view the zipliners going before us—snapping in and zooming off the platform to disappear into fog.
After a tiny practice line to attempt to master our arms-straight-legs-up-ankles-crossed-don’t-brake-unless-they-tell-you technique, they clicked us in and shoved us off, ready or not.
{Which is good, because otherwise I’d still be standing there trying to get up the nerve to jump.}
That first of the seven lines was the highest (más alto; 656 feet [!] above ground). The fog and residual rain pelting my fast-moving eyeballs soon effectively blinded me. But I could feel the speed.
By the time we went on the second zipline, the rain had really stopped and just the fog was rolling around, but lightening up enough that we had a view of the canopy and lake, even if not the volcano.
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| Can’t see the other end…nooooo problem |
At the halfway point they mixed us fresh juice and sold us pictures of ourselves.
And we got to watch an agouti rooting around! Adorable little thing, about cat-sized.
The más largo zipline was 2440 feet long, lasting 45 seconds. The más rápido one went 50 miles per hour.
So very rápido.
Back on the ground, we had time for pictures from the deck of the restaurant while we waited for our order.
And Liz was able to pull out her zoom cam.
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| Arenal Volcano and Lake |
She knows what all these birds are called.
After a rushed lunch (which turned out for the best, because those quesadillas we didn’t have time to finish became the kids’ emergency food supply for the rest of the week in their hotel room), it was time for our guided Sky Walk tour with Brandon.
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| Into the forest |
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| first hanging bridge |
From the bridge, we glimpsed, with difficulty, an elusive capuchin monkey.
We never did see a howler monkey, despite Brandon teaching us how to make a howler monkey call, a skill that every parent of every child on that tour will cherish forever.
Here, Brandon shows us a jumping pit viper.
Let’s take that in again: Jumping. Pit. Viper.
That’s what he’s shining a flashlight directly at.
As we lined up one by one to peer into the tree, Brandon explained in great detail, first in Spanish, then in English, what happens when you get bitten by a jumping pit viper.
I didn’t need to know a whole lot more after watching his gestures and hearing “septicemia” and “muerte.”
I put it together. And backed away from the jumping pit viper.
“Do they really jump?” we asked.
“Oh no, that’s just a name,” he said.
Mmhm.
We also saw a spider that was NOT muy pequeña, as Ada mischievously assured me.
You’re welcome for not subjecting you to the picture.
At the end we saw another deadly snake, an eyelash viper.
Brandon also shone his flashlight in this one’s eyes while he told us about it, but at least we could take pictures without sticking our face in its tree.
Also it doesn’t have the word “jumping” in its name.
As we emerged from the forest, we saw that the clouds had completely cleared from the volcano!
What with hiking and deadly vipers and ziplining 50 miles an hour and rain and I don’t know what else, it seemed like an ideal evening to close out the night with room service.
