The Time I Broke My Zip Lining Guide's Hand in Costa Rica

He placed his hands out in front of him as the sign to slow down... I pulled hard on the line, but something was wrong; I wasn't slowing down! He puts his hand on the line to stop me but there's nothing I can do to slow down. Everything happens in slow motion after that. He shouts for me to slow down, I close my eyes and crash into his hand; very, very hard. Upon coming out of my panic attack, I hear cursing and see the guide grasping his hand in pain.

The past few days in Costa Rica had been filled with adventure and thrill and the day in Monteverde started just as exciting. My group and I were going zip lining through the Cloud Forest. I had gone zip lining before in Mahogany Bay, Honduras and believed it would be similar. Boy was I wrong. You see, the zip line in Mahogany Bay was a joke compared to this. It's like seeing a baby bear cub in the forest and thinking how cute and adorable it is, only later to run into it's much larger and scarier mother, not knowing what to do or how you got into this mess. This zip line was on a much larger scale than the previous one I had done. Much larger scale is quite the understatement.



The start was simple, with a small line to get used to the feeling. I should tell you now, I'm terrified of heights and I try activities to overcome that fear. This was one of those activities. The farther along we got in the lines, the harder it was for me to continue. The small hikes in between lines was not the reason for my racing heart and cold sweat. My fear was overtaking my ability to enjoy this amazing activity and it only increased when I nearly broke one of the guide's hand. The lines got longer and longer the further we went along and this particular line was long and out in the open. The guide locking me in told me to begin slowing down when I saw the guide on the other side hold up his hands. As I began gliding across the line, I felt a release of fear. I was doing it! I looked around me and saw the openness and the ground below me. I LOVED doing this, I thought, I can make it through all by myself! I looked towards the other guide, waiting for my cue to slow down, as I felt I was hurtling toward him way to quickly. I even began slowing down before he gave me the signal. Finally, he did but I couldn't slow down quick enough, even though I had placed all of my weight in the one hand to slow me down, and crashed into the guide's hand (which was on the line anyways, so can it really be my fault?), which led to me crashing into the tree because, obviously, he removed his hand when I hit it. In my defense, WHY would the guides be stopping us with their hands that are only wrapped in a small leather piece, especially when they have big wooden blocks on the line for that?? Needless to say, the guide started using the big wooden block after I got off and continued to hold his hand at an awkward angle. I'm not sure if I broke it or not seeing as how he continued working and managed to get me off of the line. I know if I didn't brake it, it was probably seriously bruised and sprained (sorry dude, I screamed at you as I was racing towards you).

[caption id="attachment_4708" align="alignnone" width="669"] The line of doom. Me being to terrified to look at the camera. [/caption]

After that, I could barely get through the next line. I was shaking, seeing black spots and my heart refused to stop trying to find its way out of my chest. The last line was my breaking point. We walked about a fourth of a mile to get to the last line and once we got there, I looked up and immediately went back to my panic attack. Not only was this the longest, most open line we had to cross, we had to climb up about three stories of rickety old metal stairs on a mountain side. I couldn't control my breathing and tears began to drop from my eyes but I kept telling myself I could do this. I would do this. I'm standing on the stairs with my friends and try to get my mind off of what is about to happen. It's not working. Every step up I take is another screaming voice in my head yelling at me to turn around and bolt. It's finally my turn and the guide grabs my harness but I stop him before he latches me in and tell him I can not go on with a look of utter terror. He looks as me in amusement and tells me to stand in the corner of the platform until everyone is done, then he will take me across.

I felt like a failure but at least I didn't embarrass myself by passing out from fear. I breathe a sign of relief and immediately my heart stops racing, my hands stop sweating and I can enjoy the view from the rickety platform. At last, it's just me and the guide. He takes my gloves off, tells me to relax and hooks me onto the line with him. I am extremely happy that I waited for him because I was able to take a video of crossing over. The view is amazing and being able to enjoy it instead of being terrified made the experience much more enjoyable. We made it to the end and I felt very accomplished although I couldn't do the last line by myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-B2gzXCeo8&feature=youtu.be

This next part isn't going to make any sense considering my extreme fear of heights and my experience with the zip line, but we had the option of doing a Tarzan Swing, which is just being attached to a rope by a harness and jumping off of a platform and swinging. I chose to do it, of course, and just felt extremely excited, even after we found out one of the ropes broke during a previous swing from my group (it wasn't a major rope, but still), no fear; probably because I didn't have to worry about running into anyone or holding onto a line. It was exhilarating and I was so proud of myself for doing it!

I was done accomplishing my fear for the week and the rest of my trip went without a hitch!

Costa Rican Adventure: Part 2

Costa Rica is a beautiful country filled with wonderful people. Our group was lucky enough to get to spend a few hours at a local school in a small village located near Monteverde. The school is open for a local village and only had about twelve kids total, varying in age and grade. Unfortunately, we came during a sort of spring break for the kids and many of them were not there for us to meet. The kids that were there danced for us and dressed in the local clothing that's worn during festivals and cultural celebrations. After the show, we got to meet the children and play jump rope, soccer and kickball with them. I enjoyed our time at the school and wish we would have been able to come when school was in session.



Shortly after leaving the school, we went horseback riding. While it was fun riding and seeing the area, I felt bad for the horses; they seemed extremely skinny. If I ever go horseback riding there again, I'll make sure to find a company with nice, plump horses.



The next day was going to be amazing since we were going zip lining through the cloud forest in Monteverde. I had been zip lining once before in Mahogany Bay, Honduras and had an amazing time, so I was looking forward to it this time because it was on a much larger scale. I'm terrified of heights and try activities to help me overcome that fear. This was one of those activities and I barely made it through all 12+ lines. After nearly breaking a guide's hand and making it to the last line, a guide ended up taking me across because it was so big and terrifying. The positive of this, though, was that I got to relax and record my journey across the extremely high and long line. I got to experience the amazing site of the Monteverde Cloud Forest instead of constantly focusing on the fear of being up so high. The highlight of this day was the Tarzan Swing, which I was ready for. The guides wrap you up in a harness and attach you to a rope; then you just kind of let yourself fall off the platform and you go for a swing, just on a bigger scale than your normal child's swing set. Standing at the very edge of the platform was a thrill and I jumped without any fear (well, there was some but it was the good kind). I viewed the day as quite an accomplishment, seeing as how I made it through all but one line on my own and jumping the Tarzan Swing.



The next morning was spent taking a walk from our tour guide, Gustavo, through the cloud forest. It was relaxing after the thrill of the previous day. Gustavo pointed out numerous plants and different types of critters for us to "oooo" and "ahhh" over. One of the plants that caught my eye was a tree called a "walking palm." The palms grow their roots above the ground which enable the trees to travel along the forest floor, finding sunlight and nutrients wherever it can. The roots are an adaption the plant has made over many years to living so much closer to the forest floor than all of the taller plants and trees. The most fascinating part of the walk was looking up and seeing the clouds move right above our heads. It really is a "cloud" forest.



The original plan was to do another nature walk but Gustavo gave us an option. Another nature walk through the forest... or a crocodile tour! We chose the later and it ended up being just as much of an adventure and educational as a nature walk would have been. Our boat guide pointed out every croc he could find and even fed one some raw chicken! No way! Not for me. In this location, you see more crocodiles per square foot than you would see alligators in the Everglades. And we saw plenty of crocodiles. There was even one sleeping with his mouth open! Other than crocodile central, we spotted toucans, macaws, roseate pinkbills and quite a few more birds. We also saw some colorful little crabs hiding in the mangroves.



Manuel Antonio National park is the smallest national park located in Costa Rica and quite beautiful. The trip to get into the park is about a 1/2 mile walk through a well marked path. When you finally make it to the beach, you're surrounded by rain forest and Capuchin monkeys. There are different types of monkeys that hang out in the trees surrounding the beautiful beach but I only saw the Capuchin, which was fine by me. You're not allowed to feed the monkeys and getting caught doing so will result in dismissal from the park and fine. We spent most of the day splashing around in the gorgeous turquoise waters of the beach to avoid the heat. Costa Rica is much closer to the equator, resulting in a some sunburn for my friends and me. We shared PB&J together for lunch and a nearby iguana watched us as we ate. Others weren't so lucky and the iguanas tried going for their food! Unfortunately, the park is only open until 4 and we stayed until the last possible minute. Manuel Antonio was gorgeous and I really hated to leave.



We finished up the trip with whitewater rafting. It was my first time white water rafting and I wasn't sure what to expect. Before we even got into the rafts, the guides made our group jump off a small cliff (once again testing my fear of heights). The jump was a success and we began our rafting journey. We broke up into smaller groups and paddled out to the rapids. Our guide enjoyed playing tricks on us in the breaks between rapids. Most of the tricks ended with my group and I splashing around and battling cramps from laughter. We ended the day on amazing food and freshly cut pineapple.



My time in Costa Rica was short lived but amazing. I truly enjoyed my time and can't wait to return!

Costa Rican Adventure Part 1

Costa Rica was the deciding factor for my trip around the world. I had always gone on trips with family and friends before, but it was the first time I went out of the country with one other friend and didn't know anyone else. To help me dip my feet in the traveling solo world, in 2012, I booked my Costa Rican adventure with EF College Break. I took the trip with 34 other people my age from all over the US and had the time of my life. Even though I wasn't technically "solo", I went without my family and knowing one other person. That's as solo as I had ever gotten. I was there for a short, activity filled ten days and had not had near enough of the country. While there, it reassured me that I would be able to travel on my own when the time came.

Costa Rica was different than any place I had been and it has been my favorite destination so far. I love that the people truly care about their country and take care of it. The few locals I met and talked to were kind and surprisingly funny.

San Jose was where the tour began and everyone met up. We stayed in the main city square area, which was perfect because we could walk everywhere. I loved walking around and seeing how different it all looked compared to what I was used to. The only thing I was not fond of in San Jose were the constant cat calls, lewd comments and leering all of us girls received walking down the street.



San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica. It's full of people and full of love. The numerous parks located throughout the city are packed with couples (and PDA is obviously not an issue with people here). As we walked through the city and getting turned around on side roads, we came across amazing graffiti and street art. There's none of that kind of stuff where I'm from and I enjoyed seeing it in person. The thing I loved most about San Jose was that we could see a bunch of green parrots chilling in the trees next to where we ate dinner.

After leaving San Jose the next day, we headed to INBioparque.



There are different tours you can take through the park and we did the group tour. Our guide was very informative on the biodiversity of Costa Rica and pointed out many things in the park. We saw a sloth, deer, spiders (EEK!), iguanas, butterflies and many other animals and bugs I had never seen. He also pointed out what I thought was the coolest plant called mimosa plant or "sleepy grass". Whenever you touch the plant, it's leaves will close up and then spread out again a moment later.

I was bummed when we got to our next destination, Poás Volcano. It has one of the biggest craters in the world and I was looking forward to seeing it. But instead, all we got was mist and so much fog you couldn't see fifteen feet in front of you.



We still had fun and found a path to a lake that, of course, we couldn't see because of the fog. But the forest we walked through looked like something straight from Snow White.

The next day was a big, tiring, activity filled day. We started with kayaking in Arenal Lake. We kayaked for about 30 minutes or so and got a small little island area. The kayaks took a rest while everyone enjoyed a nice little swim. Arenal lake was man made and provides about 20% of Costa Rica's electricity. Standing in front of the massive lake made it hard to believe it was man made.



On one side of the road, you have the gorgeous lake and on the other, you have the Arenal Volcano. It was funny because when we took our group picture, a car stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture of all of us. I'm assuming they hadn't seen many Americans?

I LOVED our next stop even more, La Fortuna waterfall. This 230ish foot waterfall falls into a stunning turquoise pool of chilly water and provides a backdrop to the lush, green jungle that is just a short distance away from Arenal. The current near the waterfall is extremely strong, preventing anyone from getting close enough to go under it.

The hike down to the waterfall isn't too terribly bad, the stairs are just steep. Heading back up is a different story. After being tired out by getting my butt kicked by the waterfall current, climbing back up was a rather difficult task.

To soothe our aching muscles, we headed to a place called Baldi Hot Springs. There are 25 hot springs varying from cooler pools to extremely hot (felt like boiling to me) ones. It was nice to go there, but I would have enjoyed it more if it were somewhat chilly outside. While there, we met an interesting group of guys from Holland that was visiting Costa Rica as a fraternity trip.

Choosing to relax that night, my friends and I found a nice little restaurant and had some freshly made juices and local food (except I got a burger and learned my lesson about ordering American food in Costa Rica).

I had only been in Costa Rica for three days and already fallen madly in love with the country and people. I knew I would never want to leave. The remaining seven days flew by in a blur, but it was jam packed with more adventure and tons of activities!