Today we left the beautiful, picturesque town of Monteverde and stopped for lunch and souvenirs after waiting for the road to open after construction. We then went to a presentation at Boston Scientific which was very interesting. After that we traveled back to our first hotel in San Jose. But let’s talk about yesterday.
Yesterday we had a free day in Monteverde so a lot of our group went horseback riding in the morning, and most went zip lining in the afternoon as well. One of the other girls and I walked around the town in the morning while the others were out horseback riding. We did some souvenir shopping and got lunch (I got a chicken empanada and a small Coca Cola— it only cost 1500 colones, roughly $2.70, and it was delicious. The lady even complimented me on my Spanish, which made me feel awesome). Then we regrouped at the hotel to go zip lining.
We went to Extremo Park, one of the many adventure parks in the area. The guides gave us all a quick lesson on how to position ourselves and how to stop, then we were on our way. We started off on a short zip line, then worked our way up to a longer one where you had to double up (that was only the third zip line). In the middle of the course you rappel down from a platform and land at the area to do the Tarzan swing. For that they harnessed you into/onto the rope swing then pushed you off the platform, then you would swing back and forth like Tarzan. I screamed the entire time. Most of us hit a vine that was near a branch; I was so afraid I was going to hit the branch!
After 13 zip lines (and lots of uphill walking and a final set of stairs that looked like the Great Wall of China), you end up at the 14th and final zip line. This line was 1 kilometer long, and you had the option of going down with another person or doing the Superman. The Superman is exactly what it sounds like— instead of being clipped to the front of the harness, they clipped your back to the cable and had a cable for your feet as well, so you looked like Superman (except you couldn’t put your arms out like him because it would cause too much drag). I opted for the Superman, but I was so nervous about it. Once they had me strapped in, I was shaking waiting to take off. It was so fast, and the views were amazing. I was glad I did it. I’m sore today, but it was totally worth it.
That night we went to dinner to celebrate Anju’s 20th birthday. I had the blackberry pork chop and it was excellent. We went to bed earlier so we could be ready for our long day of travel today. Even after a good night’s sleep, I’m still exhausted! That’s my cue to go to bed. Buenas noches!