I was afraid to Zip Line..sorta..I guess it helped that nine other people were going along from the Yoga Retreat. We laughed and chatted in the bumpy 25 minute van ride on a dirt road leading to the Zip Line office. Once there, I got outfitted in our gear for the 13 Zip Lines I was about to embark on, with some intrepidation. The leaders of the adventure looked about 17 years old but they were full of energy and seemed to be all about safety. This made me feel better. We then piled up in the back of a metal pickup truck, where we were taken up, up, up on another bumpy dirt road. OK, I was relaxing a bit now, knowing I was fully harnessed in doubled up safety gear. Don't touch anything on your harness, we were told. OK, I can do that! We finally arrived at the first Zip line. Someone casually asked if it starts raining, lightening, thundering what would we do? They explained the only way to get down out of the jungle was to use the Zip Lines so basically no backup plan..I felt a little concerned but not too much at that point.
One by one, the guys connected folks to the first Zip Line and wheeee! Off they went.. I was last. I said I was nervous and the guy said, do you want me to go with you? At first I said yes, but then I told myself to put my big girl pants on and just go! So I did..it was scary but fun flying through the trees to the next platform where I was met with cheering from my fellow compadres in crime. Ok, I got the scary one over with, the next 12 should be fun!! And they indeed proceeded to be up until we were met with some unexpected challenges later on. We were hooked up to each line one by one and sped over the beautiful canopy of trees, river below, gorgeous views. I whooped and hollered through the trees. It was invigorating! I was doing something so out of the box for me. Seven Ironman Triathlons under my belt and this felt more challenging than all of that in the beginning..but I overcame my fear-woot!
Some folks had iPhones, cameras-which I was envious of for awhile. I was too scared I would lose my phone so didn't take mine. I was in some photos though and thought I would get them later. We laughed at each platform. The "Zip Guys" would hook up tandem with some people and this is where the real fun began. They would turn the folks around, let them fly upside down, backwards and it really did look like fun. I said I was game, why not? The young fella hooked me up with him and off we went. I let go..I leaned back and yelled and screamed with joy, feeling like a little kid! What fun!
The folks with cameras had pouches given to them by the Zip staff that hooked onto their harness. They looked secure enough but then around zip line number 7, one of the peeps' pouches ripped and fell off, to be lost somewhere hundreds of feet below in the vast thick jungle. It had two iPhones and someone else's nice Canon camera-whoops!! Crap, I thought-that really sucks!! They (Zip Guys) assured our friends they would look for it later..yea, right! I guess miracles happen, right? I felt so bad for these people. I would have freaked out but they seemed to take it rather calmly as we had bigger fish to fry by this point.
Then it started raining. I mean sort of raining at first, then the skies opened up and it was pouring....sideways! I wasn't cold, it was the hot jungle after all. But around Zip Line number 9, it started lightening and thundering. Oh, shit! I thought..it was thrilling and scary in an adventurous sort of way. I would wait til the thunder came and went then take off on the Zip line, praying I wouldn't get struck by lightening as I traveled along a metal cable, which seemed like more of a lightening rod at this point! By Zip Line 11, it was raining so hard, I couldn't even see when I was on the Line. It seemed they were hurrying us up through the process at that point. The guys didn't look too concerned just business like probably praying none of their clients would get electrocuted..I think we all were kinda numb at that point. Wet, thoroughly soaked, I tried to enjoy the last couple of Zip Lines but really just wanted to get out of the thunderstorm by now to somewhere safe. Nope, wasn't gonna happen..after the last one I ran up the hill to the truck. No amount of training could prepare me to sprint up a very steep wet, hill with thunder getting closer and closer. Shit, this is starting to suck a bit now.. I finally made it to the back of the open metal pickup truck bed, where we all started huddling together, totally exposed to the elements, lightening getting closer and closer. I don't know why I raced up to get there. I suppose I was thinking the hot chocolate and shelter was up there..not! Eventually, all were in the back of the truck and this is where the real fun started. For the next 35-40 minutes, we were taken down a bumpy, dirt (now mud) road, which by now had rivers of water flowing down it. Thunder and lightening everywhere. We could see the lightening hitting the ground close by. I was nervous, scared, grasping the women sitting next to me. We were giggling nervously, screaming when the really close lightening hit. Wow, this truck ride is taking forever...My waterproof hiking shoes were soaked through to my socks by now it was pouring rain so much. My rain jacket was folded nicely back in my room at the Resort, of course! Apparently, there were drop off cliffs along the road that I didn't see, thank goodness-that would have put me over the edge. We passed by a house where the people looked at us with kind of horror in their eyes. Wtf? Why aren't we stopping to seek shelter there?? I guess they just wanted to descend and get us to the Zip office as quickly as possible. I turned to a friend at one point and said this right here would NEVER happen in the U.S.! However, we are in a foreign country, where the same rules don't apply, I guess. We did sign a waiver releasing the staff from all liability after all..did this include electrocution, I wondered? I tried to comfort myself thinking the lightening should hit the trees first, right? Oh but wait there are friggin' powerlines directly above us-crap!
Finally, at last we arrived at the office, soaked, relieved..just happy to be loaded into a dry van where we were not sitting ducks in an open metal lightening rod encased potential death trap..geez!!
One guy said on the last Zip Line as the guide was hooking him up, he (the guide) got a minor jolt from the lightening. He was OK and asked the guest if he wanted to walk down the last part on a path to the truck. Our friend said no, I will go, if you are game! So they both Zipped down the last cable probably thinking this may be the last thing they do in life..whew, they made it.
On the way back to the Resort in the van, we all talked about how we didn't die, that was good. How the phones and camera were lost, what a bummer..But we were alive!
I guess this was one of those experiences, adventures that is hard to describe to anyone who wasn't there.. We were helpless to do anything to anything to get ourselves to safety for about 90 minutes but being in a group was comforting on some level for me. Hartley did not go on this adventure and boy was he glad! I knew he would be worried about me out there in the lightening and all. When I got back to Blue Spirit, indeed he said he was..
What a day, what an adventure, what a life I have! This week has already been life changing in so many ways, Yoga 2-3 times a day, walking on the beach, eating totally vegetarian healthy food, getting to know new friends. The Zip Lining was part of it all. I am so lucky and blessed to be here, even in a lightening storm on a Cable flying through the jungle...
Ohm...
