Sky Trek - The Zip Line Adventure

What do you do when you wake up on a Sunday morning?
In Monteverde, you join your friends for a bosque nuboso cable adventure -- taking just 50 seconds to traverse an entire valley and canopy between one mountain top to the next.
7am breakfast, 8am van pick-up to the Arenal Rain Forest Reserve.
First we warm up with "SKY WALK" -- a unique opportunity to explore the forest canopy in a safe and easy manner. SKY WALK is a combination of 4,700 feet of trails and suspension bridges built in the cloud forest. It's a paradise for birdwatching and orchid lovers!
The SKY TREK lasts approximately two and a half hours. We fly through the forest and over the treetops on SKY TREK zip lines that are from 131 feet to 2,525 feet long! We climb observation towers suited up in harness, helmet and gloves. We clip on the caribeeners to the two inch cables, grip the metal handles of the free pulley, cross and tuck up our legs, and call out like Tarzan in a ripping rush of adrenaline. Several smiling guides tend to safety, attachement, take offs and landings.
Me? I took to it immediately, having been up in a hot air balloon with my grandmother and parasailing above my home town of Naples, Maine. There is, however, a certain vulnerability when you look directly below and have to sign of attachments in your peripheral. The thrill and exhiliration is heightened, as each zip line becomes longer and faster, reaching speeds of up to 60kph/40mph.
The rain has held off, the clouds encroaching during the last two zips. Number ten is the longest (2,525 feet) and the wind is blowing me around, causing too much friction between pully and cable. I don't make it all the way. Guide Aron quickly clips on, slides out to me, locks his legs around mine and effortlessly shimmies me back to the platform. What service atop the canopy! I thought I'd have to "do it myself", as the other two had done on earlier lines. We safety touch down and wander through the hummingbird garden on the path back to the lodge. Feisty creatures weighing as little as three grams, they allow me to place my head next to the feeder for a snap shot.
Cafe Monteverde gratis awaits us. I appreciate the warmth. The taxi has already arrived so we reclaim our bags and tip our guides. We recognize many of these twenty-somethings from last nights discoteca, at La Taberna.

Phew! Who knew it could be like this? Not just some cheezy tourist trap. Oh, no! A livin'-in-the-moment-flight that strengthens the bond of the group. From moments of panic while climbing the high towers to screeches of fear that turn into laughter, we walk away wiped -- coming down from the emotional highs that finally settle as decompress in the van ride back to Don Taco.
On the hotel terrace we huddle for a travel briefing for our next stop, Ometepe. Ben reminds us to get all the spending money we will need. This remote island in Nicaragua will not allow access to any first world advantages, such as stores or ATMs.
I stock up on chocolate and olives for the next three days. I find my hand-carved leatherback turtle souvenir, visit the internet cafe, and now am off to the Serpentario to view an amphibian and reptile zoo. The more than forty species of snakes, turtle and frogs are behind glass and are said to be more active at night. I'm about to find out! (visit www.snaketour.com)

For more information about the Arenal Region and her forests, visit www.arenalreserve.com
Wishing to find out more about tours? Desafio Expeditions specializes in tours for this area. You may find out more by visiting www.monteverdetours.com Janet will be happy to respond to any inquiries, especially if you like horseback riding and rafting.