Out of our comfort zones

If friends told me two weeks ago that I would leave Costa Rica having literally swung like Tarzan through the jungle, I wouldn’t have believed them. But, a Tarzan swing presented itself on our travels through Monteverde and, among other uncomfortable feats this day, we took advantage of it.

On our first full day in the rainforest, we walked the five-minute trek through town to catch a 7:30a.m. public bus to Monteverde Cloud Forest. While stretching our mostly forgotten Spanish skills to maximum capacity, we found our way onto the 800 colones (one dollar) transport. This short, highly confusing venture marked the moment I officially decided to add become bilingual to my bucket list.

We hiked for three hours through one of the world’s most famous cloud forests, stopping often to snap photos of colorful birds, unfamiliar insects and exotic vegetation. We drank fresh papaya and passion fruit juice blends for breakfast, along with a slice of carrot cake (we’re on vacation) and Costa Rican coffee.

In the afternoon, we got an aerial view of the beautiful sites. Our Canopy Tour package included three hours of zip lining, repelling and two choice adventures – the Superman and Tarzan Swing – both optional due to the likely possibility of scaring the average human shitless.

After suiting up in full-body harnesses, helmets and gloves, we made our way to the first platform for zip lining. We ventured down five separate cables, interrupted by a quick repel and a couple short hikes.

Zip lining holds each individual rider responsible for his/her own braking. On my first cable ride, I braked too early and was left hanging about five feet from the final platform. To complete my ride, I had to turn backwards toward my destination and shimmy myself home using both hands to guide myself along the wire.

My sister, Julie, had the opposite problem and, on several occasions, failed to brake at all. She had a guide to cushion her landing, but still wound up running her body into several trees.

After our final zip line, we made our way to the 800-meter (one half mile) Superman cable, which extended above the jungle with nothing but open air to surround us. The Superman – or in our case, Superwoman – operates similarly to a zip line. Instead of “sitting” below the cable with our hands holding the harness and cable, however, the harness attached to the cable from our backsides, leaving us dangling spread eagle below with nothing to hold onto.

Though I started screaming before the guide released me from the platform, flying through blue skies and over thick rainforest trees below offered a unique combination of feeling both powerful and powerless at once.

Our final venture of the day waited for us just uphill from our Superman landing. In a short, five-minute walk, we found a sort of half bridge, or plank, which jutted about 50 meters (150 feet) from the mountainside. The designers made it this way on purpose, of course, as the victims need somewhere to wait in shaking fear before being dropped from the edge.

And, that is literally what happens. Each victim walks the bouncing plank toward two guides waiting at the end, at the doors of Hell. After attaching our harnesses to the proper equipment, one guide hands the swinging rope to that identified Tarzan, while the other opens the small door at the end of the platform. With Tarzan standing both feet on the ledge, the guide holds the harness from behind, lowers Tarzan slightly over the 295-foot drop below, and lets go.

No matter the Tarzan victim, the swing sounded similar – one or two seconds of silence while our stomachs strangled our vocal cords. Then came the screams of fear over our first conscious realization that we had, in fact, just fallen from a ledge. The final few swings and demounting of the rope left uncontrollable laughter, jello legs and extreme disorientation over where to walk and what to say.

Were we scared? Out of our damn minds. Was I worth it? For that adrenaline rush, confidence boost and story to tell, absolutely.