Extremo!

Before we got settled 1600m high in the misty green mountains of Monteverde, Costa Rica we made sure our zip line tour would be coming to get us in a few hours. I had spent more time than Elise approved of trying to narrow down which tour was going to send us soaring highest & farthest- I'm slightly afraid of heights & if I was going to torture myself, I really wanted to scare the fear out of me. At 2pm we reached the end of a long unpaved road & the headquarters of Extremo. We strapped up & got ready to fly.

monkey see - monkey do

After a how-to introduction we were led by four beyond cheeky local guides to the first of what would be fifteen zip line wires. We hiked upward between them through a lush rainforest full of moss covered trees dripping with vines. Each line was a surprise. I squealed out loud on the first decent sized stretch as I flew over misty green hills, cow-filled pastures, rural neighborhoods, & an isolated waterfall. They let Elise & I ride together for one line & another suddenly dead-ended at a rope where we rappelled 90 feet to the ground. We also jumped from a platform that shot us awkwardly downwards towards death before back & forth- in & out of the depths of the forest- on a "Tarzan swing." I felt like Jane.. or a monkey- "monita" as the guides chirped every time I set foot on the next platform grinning ear to ear.

The guides couldn't have been more entertaining & just as I started to get jealous of their freedom, leaping onto the lines horsing around mid-air, I got an offer I could not refuse. One guide clipped me backwards onto the equipment of another & pushed us out on the fastest, longest, highest line in the park. I forced my stubbornly practical arms into the air above my head & leaned back until I was upside down, the guide holding the backs of my knees. I cruised like this, looking back & forth 400 feet in the air for a full kilometer laughing hysterically. We haven't been able to stop reminiscing about our adventure since & have been plugging Extremo's service to every tourist we meet, or choose to meet, just to put them in the loop.

Hi, Elissa & Elise, the states, Rhode Island... so have you zip lined in Monteverde yet???

I can't even post Elise's video without laughing to tears alone in an internet cafe :)