Zip-line It is our last true morning in Monte Verde. Well not exactly, but we leave at a very early hour tomorrow. Caroline and I head to Orchid Restaurant for breakfast. I have been dying to try this quaint organic cafe since we arrived. I order a wonderful healthy breakfast of creamed spinach atop poached eggs and a smoothie of carrots, cucumber, and pineapple. We've arrived early and so afterwards I can chill and sketch. In about an hour I leave to go zip-lining for the first time in my life.
I am a little scared yes, but I do it. What a rush!! I am flying over the rainforest. Zipping along like a bird in flight - this is exhilarating! After finishing the last and longest zip line - over a mile long, we reach something called the Tarzan swing. Here I chicken out. Well, no... I don't chicken out. I take a look, see what I am up against, and after seeing a risk and weighing the consequences, I decide against doing it. I am not justifying fear, and obviously I am not scared of heights. I can say that I don't like the feeling of falling, which is what this is. The Tarzan swing is a harness around ones waist, a rope to hold on to, and a 40 meter free fall that then catches into a swing. When most people fall, they hang on... I don't. I am impulsive and my first true instinct would be to let go. Oh I know there is a harness to catch around my waist, but I foresee that a neck or back could snap in a painful way if I were to let go. The thing is to risk, but in a way that is safe for you, and so yes... I opt out of the swing... no regrets.
I am a little scared yes, but I do it. What a rush!! I am flying over the rainforest. Zipping along like a bird in flight - this is exhilarating! After finishing the last and longest zip line - over a mile long, we reach something called the Tarzan swing. Here I chicken out. Well, no... I don't chicken out. I take a look, see what I am up against, and after seeing a risk and weighing the consequences, I decide against doing it. I am not justifying fear, and obviously I am not scared of heights. I can say that I don't like the feeling of falling, which is what this is. The Tarzan swing is a harness around ones waist, a rope to hold on to, and a 40 meter free fall that then catches into a swing. When most people fall, they hang on... I don't. I am impulsive and my first true instinct would be to let go. Oh I know there is a harness to catch around my waist, but I foresee that a neck or back could snap in a painful way if I were to let go. The thing is to risk, but in a way that is safe for you, and so yes... I opt out of the swing... no regrets.
| In the afternoon I walk around and find a shop - The Monte Verde Art House - filled with unique local art from local artisans. Immediately I know that I would like to get a couple of pieces as gifts. I tend to invest in local art, rather than in plastic trinkets - its better for the arts, and for the environment. I decide on gorgeous smaller paintings of Costa Rican birds on wood - they are created by local families and support peoples who live in the area and around. I then go back to the lodge to chill out and build up the courage to do a night walk in the jungle - with a guide of course. Night Walk in the Jungle - In the night we don't run into things that go bump, but we see tarantulas in their natural habitats, birds sleeping under tree leaves, and lots of active sloths eating leaves. Its been a long wonderful day and I have learned a lot. I've learned I am not scared of a lot, and that I am willing to risk only where I do not see detriment or what I would assess to be silly risk for myself. Now it's to bed - so that I can rise and shine! |  Sloth in the night |
RSS Feed
