Costa Rica-Part One

I'm dedicating a post just to the zipline portion of our time in Costa Rica. Let's just say it was awe-inspiring. We pulled into Puerto Limon early in the morning and had all day there. JB found a great deal on a zipline canopy tour that many people on the ship paid big money for. And I'm talking all kinds of people were zipping through those trees when we arrived. Big, small, old, very old, very big...etc. "You see?" said my lover and protector, "They love it. If they can do it, you can do it."
Notice the picture above. JB excited, me with the nervous "heh heh" kind of smile. You can't see it, but I'm gripping the tree. They harness you up, and attach you to the cable with lots of double protection. Then they tell you to hold on and you go flying.

JB went first and took a picture of me coming along. Then we switched:

That's him in the orange. We zipped along, stopping at 13 platforms high in the trees, and the cables varied in length from platform to platform. Sometimes you'd get going really fast, but if you twisted a bit you would slow down and not quite make it to the next platform. I had to pull myself hand-over-hand a few times to get within reach of the next platform's guide.

One time I was too far away, so the guide came out in his own harness, wrapped his legs around me, and pulled us both to the platform. "Bueno, cual es tu nombre?" I asked him and people laughed.

By the sixth platform I was done joking through my fear and was about to cry. I could see all around me that people were having a blast, no one was falling to their deaths, everyone was safe, the guides were quite strong and able, but I just couldn't shake off the jitters. I bravely kept sailing through the trees because that was the only way back to terra firma.

JB took a self portrait, because I never really liked letting go of cables/trees/the guides in order to hold the camera.

JB loved it. He had a blast. I felt bad at the end that I was teary-eyed ("I left my baby behind for this?!") because it really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Looking back at it, it really was a rush. The jungle was beautiful and you could see the sea from high up in the tree platforms. But next time I may just cheer JB on from the ground.