Notes from the Jungle: Chapter 3 Monteverde Zipline

Molly's Adventures in Costa Rica continue with a trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forest: 

Ziplining in Monteverde, Costa Rica
Photo by Beth and Anth

Got back to Tamarindo last night after a jam packed but fun-filled weekend adventure. We left by van at 8:00 AM for Monte Verde. We were just checking into our hostel at 1:30 when the bus arrived to take us to the zip lines. So we left our stuff with the guy in the lobby and jumped in.

Let me preface this by saying this, BY FAR, the most terrifying thing I have ever done. The Monte Verde zip lines are supposedly in the top two most extreme zip lines in the world. 


So first of all there are 13 different cables you zip on. The longest is 2,461 feet long! All of them are above the canopy (rainforest) and you are 450 feet high!! It is a beautiful view if you have enough nerve to look down. You are connected to the cable with one pulley and a separate tether with a carabiner, just in case. 

The first thing they teach you is that your strongest hand should go behind the pulley with your thumb and pointer fingers making a circle so the cable just zips right through with no friction. If you need to slow down you just push down on the cable to brake. But the only time you should do this is when the guy waiting for you on the other end (many times you can't see him from the starting platform) signals that you are coming in too fast. This is where I went wrong. 

The first two zips are quite short from platform to platform through the trees. Then you hit a long and fast one over the open valley of jungle. Little did I know that my automatic response would be to hold tight to the cable and thus slow myself down. I made it all the way up to six feet before the end and a guide had to come out and get me. But still it wasn't that bad. The problem was that the zips got longer and faster and I still wanted to brake all the way through. At one point I managed to stop myself mid-zip about have way through, hanging 450 feet in the air above the trees. Terrified, and without thinking, my right hand joined my left hand holding my tether and I started to zip again but I had no ability to brake so the poor guy at the end had to take me at full speed. 

Everyone else in our group was having a blast and I was pretty close to tears. Between each zip we had to hike up a new ravine to get to the next rickety staircase and then climb to the next precarious platform. Sure didn't help that I am so out of shape. On about the 5th line or so, there was alot of wind so we had to go with a partner. This was a turning point for me. I got to go in front with my friend Jessica's legs around my waist. I got to have both hands on my tethers and she braked on the cable with her right hand for both of us. 

I felt much more secure when I knew I wouldn't accidently halt myself in midair. But there were only two cables that we had to go tandem on. By the time we got to the Tarzan swing (exactly what it sounds like but much higher than any rope swing you have ever imagined) I was a nervous wreck. I barely made it through the next two short zips on my own. The last and longest zip is the Superman. Here you are attached to the cable by your back and your feet so you fly belly down, arms out, like Superman. It started to rain of course, so 7 of my friends, old and new, talked to the guides and they agreed that I didn't have to go Superman and one of the pros would do this last one tandem with me. PHEW!!


I made it through and everyone was very proud of me. Although it was touch and go at points, I am really glad I did it. Don't ever need to do it again!

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