Costa Rica, Day 2
Not much to talk about yesterday. We got up, had breakfast, and Danny took me
to the hotel to meet the pickup for the tour.
The hotel receptionist was a friend of his daughter. We all chatted for a few minutes, then the
van came to take us for the 1.5 hour
ride to San Luis. There was a father
from Oklahoma (works for Ralph Lauren) and his schoolteacher daughter from
Kansas (teaches special-needs children, also does hair on the side). Later on
we picked up a woman from LA, but since she sat way in the back and I sat way
in the front, we didn’t have the opportunity to talk much.
While we were driving from Escazu (where Danny lives) to Santa Ana (where the LA lady lives), we passed by the house of the US Ambassador to Costa Rica. It's a big, walled-off structure (when we returned in the afternoon, we would see a motorcyle accident in front of it). When our driver pointed out that the US Ambassador lived there, the father from Oklahoma asked "The whole staff?!?" It's that big, that the whole embassy staff could probably live there....Danny says they have Fourth of July parties there for the US expat community and include a Marine Corps band.
While we were driving from Escazu (where Danny lives) to Santa Ana (where the LA lady lives), we passed by the house of the US Ambassador to Costa Rica. It's a big, walled-off structure (when we returned in the afternoon, we would see a motorcyle accident in front of it). When our driver pointed out that the US Ambassador lived there, the father from Oklahoma asked "The whole staff?!?" It's that big, that the whole embassy staff could probably live there....Danny says they have Fourth of July parties there for the US expat community and include a Marine Corps band.
When we go to the San Luis, the woman from LA met an Indian
guy from NYC who’d been on the tour with her the previous day. He was with another group of 4 more people;
they were from Puerto Rico. So we went,
the 8 of us, to do ziplining. Not only
do they allow the use of the gopro, but they had special helmets for it. The mount on them fitted a newer model than
my camera so the fellow secured my straps, buckled us all up, and we were ready
to go.
It. Was. Awesome.
First of all, they did the braking for you, which was nice. We had the rollers
with two hand grips, so all you had to do was hold on, and you didn’t have to
worry about your speed at all. You could
also lean back a little more than on the zipline at Miguel Antonio. The zipping was fairly standard; we did a coupla baby zips, 40-50 or so
meters, maybe 5 meters off the ground, then we went on to the real lines. They increased in height and length as we
went, and for the last two or three, we actually had to subir the
mountain. Of note: about halfway through, we did a Tarzan
swing. This is not a zipline, but a
swing. They strap you in, raise you up
to give you a good pushoff, and you go swinging through the tops of the
trees. It was amazing, although I was
always looking up and didn’t get very good video of it. The 3rd or 4th to last line
was over a river. It was 4 or 500 meters
long and a very scenic view. The second
to last was one they called the drunken horse.
It was maybe 100, 150 meters long but the two guides on each end shook
the rope so you had a bouncy ride. That
was also fun. Somewhere along the way, we
climbed the mountain to a big surprise:
they had a water dispenser ready for us, which we appreciated! Then we were off to the last line, the
Superman line. It’s over a 522 meter
long stretch; I think it’s 47 meters high, and you get strapped into this
apron-like garment, you get up on a
table, then a plank and raise into a downward dog so they can buckle you
in. Once you’re in, you just lie down
and enjoy the ride. It was
fabulous.
(this is the same zip.
The first one is them recording it; the second one is recorded from my
helmet cam.) You should be able to see them by clicking on the blue hyperlink, but I've included the full address just in case.
Here is another video; seems to be just a short line: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202863296997300&l=8837041810299161196
And, finally, here are some pictures from the trip:
There are more which I may add after I get home: scenery on the way up, a big logging truck in
front of us, coffee farms, the food we ate, etc. Interestingly, at lunch I sat across from the
two folk from Kansas. The daughter, the
teacher, Facetimed her students back home.
The three of us had a conversation about the challenges of doing
ministry in an increasingly skeptical and apathetic world; I was surprised to
see that the skepticism and apathy are spreading even to the Bible Belt. But we encouraged one another and praised God
together, which was good.
Lunch (black beans and rice, salad, fried yucca, your choice
of meat, and mango juice) was over fairly quickly. The driver had said we could possibly stop at
a butterfly farm on the way back, but after we ended, everyone wanted to buy
CDs, and then it started to pour, so that didn’t happen. I had an awesome day,
though! Now about to go do my last tour
before leaving…
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