The past two days we hadn't really done much other than eat cerviche and fried plantain and hang out on the beach. I had grown a bit restless, I needed to do stuff! So last night we had our concierge Edourdo book us a ziplining tour with El Santuario for $75USD per person. It has 11 lines in total including the longest ziplines in Central America at almost 1 mile long. A van came to pick us up at Tulemar at 7:00AM. There was a 10AM tour as well but we thought it would be way too hot. We arrived at El Santuario's camp in the middle of the tropical bush around 8AM and put on our gear. After a short demonstration and safety talk we were off to our first line. There were about 4 or 5 guides that helped us clip on and clip off each line. I can tell they were very experienced and are very safe. The first line was what I considered a warm up line. It was short and not too high off the "ground" (maybe 10 feet)m the ground being the top of the bush. The scariest part was always the first step off. After that, it was like the swing ride at the fairgrounds, but the major difference was, we got an awesome top view of the deep jungle instead of the round and round view of the hotdog or mini donut stand and teenage carnies.
As we got deeper into the jungle the noise of the cicadas got louder. We practically had to yell at each other. On the 2nd or 3rd line we had the option to ride the line upside down, I didn't utilize this option. The 7 or 8th line was the longest line. As I saw the first person launched off it seemed like he was going forever to reach to the other side. When it was my turn, I was filled with excitement. I relaxed my back and took in the incredible view that came into my sight but as I zipped more into the open air the wind picked up. I was twisted to the left quite a bit. I had to steer my handle bar hard to make sure I didn't end up spinning too much. It took close to two minutes to reach the other side. While waiting for others to finish we were served watermelon (my fav btw).
At the beginning of the tour, our guide told us there was a surprise at
the end. I was imagining a big ice cream sundae waiting for me. It was getting really hot. When we approached the10th line (second last line) I could tell it was a steep one which meant this was going to be a fast one. Our guide told us it could go up to 55 miles per hour. Yikes. I guess that's the surprise? A bit anti climatic I thought. Greg went before me. I wooed at the speed as I reached the other end.
Greg standing at the platform stared at me and asked: notice anything?
I looked around and shook my head.
There is no way down except straight down, Greg said.
WHAT? I gasped. Then I noticed a rope hanging straight down. I carefully approached the edge and saw one of guides 30 feet below getting ready to receive us. There was really no other way to get down!
I watched Greg get clipped in and got lowered down to the bottom. When it was my turn, I said to myself it looked ok, not that bad. At least I didn't have repel down myself. Again the step off from the platform was the scariest. I was disappointed though the big surprise at the end wasn't the ice cream sundae.
We were served Pollo (Chicken) Gallo Pinto lunch after we returned to the camp. By noon we headed back to Manuel Antonio.
While we were gone in the morning our friends who stayed behind booked an ATV tour for us at 2PM. In Santa Teresa ATVs could be rented by the hour and driven around without a guide, however in Manuel Antonio area ATVs were only offered as part of a guided tour for $95USD for single and $125USD for double. Only the guys were interested and I decided to hang with the boys while the other ladies hit the beach.
I didn't get my own ATV, I just hung on to Greg. That was probably a good idea considering we were also joined by four very burly guys from New York with very thick and noticeable accent. It was Greg's first time ATVing. The other guys were all experienced if not very well experienced. Greg did a really good job keeping up with them, especially with me strapped to his back. The whole experience was very testosterone-y.
We zipped through mud puddles and kicked up dirt through some patches of the jungle, dirt roads, and small hills. We also drove through a few vast river beds with very low tide but they were not low enough for a van and a car to drive through. The boys had to rescue the car out of the water with me and the car owner's wife and daughter watching nervously. By the time we reached the La Selvita Waterfall it was almost dusk. The water was very cold compared to the warm bath-like ocean water. We didn't spend too much time at the waterfall before heading for dinner. I was surprised that we were getting a meal. Oh well, I love to eat even if it was just the standard fair of rice, bean and chicken with salad. We ate at what seemed to be another zipline camp. There was a line strung right across from where we ate to the other side of the parking lot. I was a little relieved we went with El Santuario in the morning.
After dinner we drove the ATV down the hill and back to the ATV depot. A van took us back to the hotel close to 7PM. It was a fun filled day but I couldn't wait to shower the sweat and mud off me. While I was in the shower I can hear the girls who had just came back from the beach giggling about a little friend they had made. Then I heard Greg through the bathroom door "Faye, hurry up, there is a raccoon named Poncho in our livingroom!".
Did I hear that correctly? A raccoon? I rushed to get dressed and opened the bathroom door. Then I saw a bandit like creature pitter-patter across our living room. My first instinct was to step back a few steps and gasped, there is a raccoon in the living room, stating the obvious. Everyone laughed at my response. "This is Poncho who the gate security guards adopted a few days ago. He is super friendly and affectionate towards to people which is actually kind of odd for a raccoon." Someone explains. Poncho has been hanging out on the beach with the guests all day long. I was fascinated. I followed around this little guy as he explored our rooms, partially because I still didn't fully trust he would not steal something.
After Poncho had a full tour of every corner of our bungalow and played with a bowl of water he left to hang out with the staff. Under Edouardo's recommendation we went to Kukula Seafood restaurant in Quepos for dinner. For those who is keeping tabs, this would be dinner #2 for me. I was going to just order some appetizers but the menu had so many month watering dishes I ended up with the grill whole (small) snapper for $12 USD! It was soooo fresh and yummy even afterwards I had to be rolled out the restaurant.
By the way, we OCD'd the seating arrangement at dinner again as we did at
Shambala two nights. Again all it was
missing was Mel Gibson at the next table.
As we got deeper into the jungle the noise of the cicadas got louder. We practically had to yell at each other. On the 2nd or 3rd line we had the option to ride the line upside down, I didn't utilize this option. The 7 or 8th line was the longest line. As I saw the first person launched off it seemed like he was going forever to reach to the other side. When it was my turn, I was filled with excitement. I relaxed my back and took in the incredible view that came into my sight but as I zipped more into the open air the wind picked up. I was twisted to the left quite a bit. I had to steer my handle bar hard to make sure I didn't end up spinning too much. It took close to two minutes to reach the other side. While waiting for others to finish we were served watermelon (my fav btw).
Greg standing at the platform stared at me and asked: notice anything?
I looked around and shook my head.
There is no way down except straight down, Greg said.
WHAT? I gasped. Then I noticed a rope hanging straight down. I carefully approached the edge and saw one of guides 30 feet below getting ready to receive us. There was really no other way to get down!
I watched Greg get clipped in and got lowered down to the bottom. When it was my turn, I said to myself it looked ok, not that bad. At least I didn't have repel down myself. Again the step off from the platform was the scariest. I was disappointed though the big surprise at the end wasn't the ice cream sundae.
While we were gone in the morning our friends who stayed behind booked an ATV tour for us at 2PM. In Santa Teresa ATVs could be rented by the hour and driven around without a guide, however in Manuel Antonio area ATVs were only offered as part of a guided tour for $95USD for single and $125USD for double. Only the guys were interested and I decided to hang with the boys while the other ladies hit the beach.
I didn't get my own ATV, I just hung on to Greg. That was probably a good idea considering we were also joined by four very burly guys from New York with very thick and noticeable accent. It was Greg's first time ATVing. The other guys were all experienced if not very well experienced. Greg did a really good job keeping up with them, especially with me strapped to his back. The whole experience was very testosterone-y.
We zipped through mud puddles and kicked up dirt through some patches of the jungle, dirt roads, and small hills. We also drove through a few vast river beds with very low tide but they were not low enough for a van and a car to drive through. The boys had to rescue the car out of the water with me and the car owner's wife and daughter watching nervously. By the time we reached the La Selvita Waterfall it was almost dusk. The water was very cold compared to the warm bath-like ocean water. We didn't spend too much time at the waterfall before heading for dinner. I was surprised that we were getting a meal. Oh well, I love to eat even if it was just the standard fair of rice, bean and chicken with salad. We ate at what seemed to be another zipline camp. There was a line strung right across from where we ate to the other side of the parking lot. I was a little relieved we went with El Santuario in the morning.
Did I hear that correctly? A raccoon? I rushed to get dressed and opened the bathroom door. Then I saw a bandit like creature pitter-patter across our living room. My first instinct was to step back a few steps and gasped, there is a raccoon in the living room, stating the obvious. Everyone laughed at my response. "This is Poncho who the gate security guards adopted a few days ago. He is super friendly and affectionate towards to people which is actually kind of odd for a raccoon." Someone explains. Poncho has been hanging out on the beach with the guests all day long. I was fascinated. I followed around this little guy as he explored our rooms, partially because I still didn't fully trust he would not steal something.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment