Superman and Mega Tarzan

They have all sorts of lodging types in Costa Rica with many having a naturalistic theme.  I am all into the natural and all that, but found this hotel a little too primitive even for me-

I am not some oversized bee.


I finished my exploration of the heretofore unknown region of Arenal and headed by well maintained roads- with pot holes only every 20' or so- to the mountainous Monteverde Cloud Forest.  Along the way, I got stuck in a ditch in my trusty Jimmy Suzuki rental car on some remote dirt road in some hilly farm country-

Costa Rica meeting New Zealand along my drive-

 Using my well honed travel skills and having seen most every type of problem while traveling, I knew I would quickly find a solution in my expedition memory.  So.... I sat down by the side of the road and mindlessly waited until someone else came along.  After 15 minutes or so in this remote location, a poor local family passed by in a donkey cart that faintly resembled a new Toyota Highlander and, like the 18th century Royal Navy, I impressed all into service, including the 4 year old who I charged with driving the stick shift as the rest of us pushed Jimmy out of the ditch.

Monteverde is known for its poor roads, which is certainly saying something in Costa Rica. By leaving at the crack of dawn to make sure I got to my 3pm zip line appointment, I just covered the roughly 60 miles in time.  I had signed up for what was advertised as Latin America's longest zip line, including a Superman line, as well as a Tarzan swing and rappel down some cliff- whatever all that stuff was.

The long (and high) zip line over the cloud forest canopy was indeed fun and was probably about 600' off the ground on average-

But then I looked up and saw the Superman line which was a few hundred feet above that-

If you look close and blow u[ the picture, you can see the speck in the sky flying head first- superman style.  Well, that was all pretty unnerving- and you had plenty of time to ponder your sins while flying hundreds/thousands of feet over the canopy- but that was all nothing compared to the terror of the Tarzan swing-

Putting my usual thought into it aforehand, I had no idea what to expect, other than some vague notion that I would be joyfully swinging with Jane and assorted monkeys like Johnny Weismuller of original Tarzan fame.  But this looked nothing like the old Tarzan movies.  You walked out some long steel plank to some cage at the end where who knew what happened.

"

I walked out to the cage like some condemned man headed to the gallows, which is pretty much how I felt as I shuffled out there.  It was 150 ft in the air according to my helpful guide (did I actually pay for this?  What was I thinking, if anything?)   When I got there, they told me to hold onto some rope and then opened the cage door.  A conversation ensued as I looked down...

Me-  What happens now?

Guide- You jump.

But it looks like I will just fall?   Straight down as it were.  It looks a long way down...

Yep.  Free fall for a while and then the rope swings you.   Hopefully.

But----

Off you go!

Not sure how I didn't have a heart attack, but I am still blogging somehow.

With no street signs and then a plethora of private signs at every junction, it is pretty difficult trying to pick out your hotel sign as you motor  along-

I will say playing Superman and Tarzan for an afternoon was something of a blast.