Current location: Monteverde, Costa Rica
Status: Happy as a clam...if the clam were on ecstasy!
The dealio: So our first night we got in sorta late. Went to the bar, the only place open with food, and got some kickass quesadillas. In the process, met an ADORABLE supa-gay spanish/english teacher, Royner. He's such a sweetheart, he laughs all the time and smiles about everything. Love him.
Yesterday Steve and I went hiking for a couple hours in the cloudforest. NO animals at all, save a cute fat sparrow thing and a gecko, no wildlife, beautiful walk though. Got back to the hostel and ran into a girl we'd met in Bocas del Toro, went on a night tour...small hike in the woods with flashlights and a rockin' guide, we saw some really cool bugs, a spiny tree, and oh? Oh? AN ORANGE-KNEED TARANTULA, BABY! It was SO beautiful! Got a pretty cool picture of it, I love it!
Got back and met up with Royner around 8. He had 4 friends visiting from Fortuna, CR. They only spoke Spanish but they were so much fun, and all of us went to the bar. Beer, tequila, and free salsa lessons from a friend, lots of emails and numbers exchanged, good times my friends.
Today we awoke at 10:15 and by 10:30 were in the taxi to our zipline/canopy tour! Met some WICKED-fun Americans in the cab, turned out they were our tour group. Ziplines were so much more than I expected. Lots of them (well, there were 16 in total) were long, the longest being 3/4 of a kilometer, the highest being 2500 feet off the ground! You go one at a time, so when you're speeding over hundreds of miles of forest and fields it's just you, the cable, and the harness. Found it strange that I've never felt safer in my life. You could look down and see into layers of forest, or look to the horizon and spot the sea. Valleys and hills and trees as far as the eye can see.
Afterwards, there was a 90-foot rapell down a sturdy old tree, followed by my greatest fear realized- the tarzan swing. Sounds harmless enough.
You walk, alone, onto a platform. The guide attached your harness to a loooong rope hanging from a tree that's 100 feet in front of you. Then he grabs the rope and swings you. 30-foot freefall. The rope tenses and there you are, swinging in the forest.
Once you're swinging it's just spectacular, but that one moment was hands-down the single most intense and frightening moment of my life. 30-foot freefall? I approached the end of the platform with nervousness, but didn't let it get to me. Suddenly I was strapped in and without having any control, I freaked out. "Oh my God I can't do it. Don't make me do it just gimme a second just wait," I cried, clutching a nearby tree. I didn't think, I just did it! I couldn't even control my own reaction!
The guide laughed. "Nope," he said. "Too bad, bend your knees, you have no choice!" Somehow I complied immediately, knowing I HAD to do it and I couldn't be a pussy! I bent my knees and emitted an echoing scream as I plummeted to my death.
Okay, not my death, but it sure felt like it for a second!
And now, still high on adrenaline, I'm back in town. Waiting for lunch time, and tonight we'll be making dinner with Royner and then heading over to the bar with everyone else that was in our tour today (like 10 people). One of the guys in the group took my camera and took AWESOME video of me doing the zipline, I'll do what I can to get it up! Totally wicked! Still trying unsuccessfully with Facebook, but ah well! That's how it rolls.
Paz y amor, talk to you later, keep on rockin!
