On our last afternoon in Monteverde, I had a solo adventure planned – ziplining! Steve had no interest in joining me, but I didn’t want to leave the home of ziplining without putting on a harness and finding out for myself what it feels like to fly. At first, I was thinking of doing the Original Canopy Tour, which I had heard was the very first recreational ziplining experience anywhere in the world and is still in operation today – but after chatting with a few different people (including our dive buddies from Osa, Garry and Donna) it seemed like Selvatura Adventure Park, another option, was the most popular. So I booked it, and when the time came left Steve relaxing at the hotel and waited anxiously for a bus to pick me up and drive me to Selvatura.

I got to the park, went through an equipment fitting and briefing, and then hopped into another bus to be driven to the first zipline. Along with about twenty other people in my group, I watched two park employees perform a demonstration and before I knew it – it was time to climb the stairs and try it out for myself.

What have I gotten myself into?

There were thirteen (lucky!) ziplines in all, and the final line – pictured above – was a whopping one whole kilometer long. What a rush!

Clipped in and ready to go!

WOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

What an experience! I loved it – did not find it at all scary; it was totally exhilarating and even meditative at times, as I soared over treetops and valley floors, hundreds of feet in the air at times, on the longest of the lines. Really the only thing that would have made the experience better would have been to share it with someone – especially on the longer ziplines, which require two people to zip together; being by myself, I had to go with a park employee and that was a bit weird. But it was 100% worth it, and I’m so glad I had this experience. I’ve always wanted to try ziplining, and in my younger days I would have just sat it out (and been disappointed) because Steve didn’t want to do it. These days, I am more sure of myself and more willing to go out and have an experience that I want, and I’m fine if it means I have to go it alone. (I’m glad that most of my adventures are shared experiences, though – Steve is the world’s best hiking partner and dive buddy.)

Zip on, Monteverde!

Have you ever been ziplining? Did you love it or were you terrified or both?