Costa Rica Trip Report – Day 5 – Part 1
Once again we woke up when the sun rose at five a.m. After lazing around for a bit we went to the restaurant to have our final breakfast in Costa Rica. Today we had eggs and fruit. There was a brown sauce recommended for the eggs which we tried and found very tasty. We asked the waiter what it was and he told us it was Lizano Salsa
Tachiz Travel had booked us for ziplining this morning at a neighboring hotel, Hotel Arenal Paraiso. Their driver came and picked us up and deposited us right at the base camp for the ziplining. It turned out we were the only people who signed up for this session so it was just us and the two guides, Carlos and Rafael.
We were both a bit nervous about the zip lining and Carlos and Rafael were very kind and encouraging. After a long hike to the top of the hill they quickly explained what to do and immediately put us up on a platform ready to go. This surprised us a bit as we were expecting a practice run near the ground to reinforce the quick lesson. The “practice run” was really two zip lines just a high off the ground and fast as the real ones. Despite my fear I went first because Little Star was busy cuddling with a tree! The first time was very scary and I didn’t know what to expect. I ended up breaking too much and didn’t have enough speed to make it to the landing platform. I had to pull myself the rest of the way in – oops! After the first two lines they gave us the option to climb down and not continue. We were both a bit on the fence and considering this option but we were determine to have as many experiences as possible and pushed on.
After the first four or five lines we really started to get the hang of it and it was not so scary anymore. We were having fun and Carlos and Rafael were very entertaining. They took our camera and took a million photos of us on the zip lines as we flew by. It was a real treat to be the only ones in the group and get individual attention.
We finished 11 zip lines and for the last one they insisted that we go upside down. Fortunately, the last line was only a few feet off the ground so it wasn’t too scary – although I never let go of the rope like I was supposed to. The trip took about an hour and while I had a blast and was really enjoying it by the end I was getting a bit sore and ready to be done. We were picked up by a tractor pulling a metal trailer with benches (think like a hayride without the hay) and were driven about 10 minutes up a rocky mountain back to the base camp. It was quite a ride!
We were back at the base camp with half a day left and one more activity on the bucket list that needed to be completed…
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