Canopy Tour

 

I love heights. Nothing appeals to me more than being at the peak of a mountain, edge of a cliff, top of a tree. One of the deciding factors to travel to Costa Rica was the rain forest and the opportunity to zip-line through it.

What is zip-lining? It is a system where a pulley is suspended on a cable typically mounted on an incline. It enables you to travel from the top of the cable to the bottom by holding onto the freely moving pulley. Combine a zip-line system with platforms built high above trees and you have a canopy tour. The place we chose in Costa Rica to try this out was the Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge, the oldest canopy tour in the country. This tour traversed through the highest treetops of the Monteverde rain forest. The platforms range from 8 meters to 28 meters above the forest floor.

Our group of nine – my husband and I, two non -descript American couples, a solo Boston coffee aficionado, and an adventure couple from Montreal joined two guides, Pablo and Javier on a hiking, climbing, zip-lining adventure. From start to finish Pablo explained to us the history of the canopy tour, the Canadian who designed it, the Hondurans who built it, the ticos who perfected it and the many nations who have copied it. Javier spoke less but carried his weight in catching all of us as we flew at him ass first. Our Boston friend made the hiking pass quickly as he offered up his spin on fair trade coffee and the over roasting of Starbucks beans.

While the history of the canopy tour and over priced coffee was interesting, it was the fleeting moments in mid air that took my breath away. Imagine effortlessly flying through the clouds 28 meters about the ground with nothing in sight but treetops. Nothing between you and the forest floor but a strong metal rope. The wind whipping by, your face covered in cloud moisture and grease from the sliding pulley. Your heart racing. You eyes wide open. Your soul lifted. I love heights but the opportunity to fly – well that’s a whole new altitude.

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