Wrote this on the 28th, I believe it was.
My tale brings us to the windy mountains of Costa Rica, to the lush and beautiful cloud forests. They're like rainforests, except higher, colder, and shrouded in a perpetual mist.
We're signed up to do this Sky Trek thing. Walking around on bridges in the canopy, sounds nice. Ziplines, too. Ah, the ziplines....
Well my family and I, we get driven up to this Sky Trek place. Step off the bus. First thing I notice, most of the people are dressed fairly warmly. Second thing; it's cold up here. See, when I dressed, I was at lower altitude. It had been pretty nice, so all I had were shorts, a t-shirt, and a cheap-ass raincoat.
Well, this is interesting. We went on the canopy walk, my legs shivering and my hands turning a slightly alarming shade of blue. This was mildly terrifying, as we were on wobbly suspension bridges that you could see through, a couple dozen metres above the cold hard ground. But I got through that without much incident.
Now for the ziplines. I will not lie, the prospect of that had me petrified. Exposed to the wind and ever-present rain, clocking at a few dozen kph, hundreds of feet off the ground. Didn't sound too appealing.
Now, we had to take this tram thing up the mountain to get to the ziplines. To go down, we'd zig-zag across this valley, descending as we went.
I was given instructions on how to properly use the zipline. Wait, how do we sit? Which way do you face? You break
how? Uh-oh, too late, to the tram, up the mountain! All the while, me thinking
Oh shit, oh Christ!The tram started up the slope, open-air with mist coming at me from the side. I tried to think of it just as a chairlift, which worked okay. Then we got to the ridge.
A gust of wind hit the car. Rain struck in sheets, stinging my eyes and face. I gripped my harness harder than anything I had before. I believe I became a Christian, Jew, Hindu, and Pagan all at that moment. f**king wind. I opened my eyes briefly. The top! There it is! f**k you religions, I made it!
Then I noticed a rather tall tower at the peak. There was a wire extending away from it into Oblivion, disappearing into the clouds. What's that f-? Oh, Christ no.
The tower was about 50 feet high, a staircase switch-backing to the top. The whole structure was, naturally, open-air. On the peak. In the wind. The stinging, stinging wind...
Now, I have a bit of trouble when it comes to climbing stairs like that. A lot of trouble, in fact. Fear of heights, all that shit. This would be interesting.
I started up the tower, going about as fast as an arthritic amputee. Hands on both rails. Eyes straight down. Damnit, you can see through the f**king steps! Alright, focus on the feet. Just look at your feet.
I neared the top of the tower. My legs shook uncontrollably, partially from cold, partially of primeval fear.
I watched my sister get hooked onto the wire. She took off, disappearing into the void in a few seconds.
My heart pounded.
Next, my brother. Swish! Gone.
Now me.
My heart hammered. I shook a little more. The attendant hooked me to the wire, telling me to sit down in the harness.
"Don't worry; you'll probably be fine." He smiled at me. I glared a little.
"Okay, good luck!"
I tried to yell back at him, perhaps curse his mother a little, but the wind whipped my words away. For a brief, solitary moment, my terror was complete. There was no thought, no reasoning, just pure undiluted terror. For a moment.
It was soon replaced with joy. It was incredible. I was flying. Far below me, the green tree-tops poked out of the mist, shades and spirits of another world. It was beautiful.
I let out a squeal of glee. A deep, manly squeal, mind you.
"
Yeah!" I cheered. It was a rush. The mist gently hit my face, and the forest below fell away as I went out over a valley. I was above everything. This must be how Darkness feels. Nothing could touch me. I stared across my domain.
The other side came into view, rising out of the mist. The land raced up to meet me as I slowed down. I came to a rest, was disconnected from the wire, and walked off, a huge grin on my face. 8 more to go. I was gonna love this. I then noticed the tower for the next zipline.
"f**k."
At another zipline, we had to go doubles in order to have enough speed to get across. This girl had to wrap her legs around me as we slid through the abyss.
Jack, you smooth devil. Yeah.
After the final zipline, I was good and done. We were driven back to the hotel, I finished my book (
All Those Moments by Rutger Hauer; very good read), and now here I am, hungry and writing my experience. 'Course it'll be a week or two before you see this, but whatever.
I'm done.
