Just like we planned we went out to surf some more. It was a little mushy but I caught some fun waves. After that Barry, Hannah, Michael and I had lunch here at La Casa Romantica. We all had grilled cheese sandwiches, though Hannah and I ordered them without the ham. They still came with other things though, and they were okay at best. All the other food we’ve had here so far we’ve really liked, but I can’t recommend the grilled cheese.
After that we got ready to go to the zip lines. We followed Warren and Tori to the office for it. They loaded up a bunch of us Americans (two of them go to ECU) and rode us up a mountain in the back of a flatbed truck for about half an hour. I volunteered to be the first person on the line and had a blast with it. I mean, there’s really nothing like hanging a few hundred feet over a jungle with a view of mountains and the ocean as you’re cruising along from one mountain to the next.
So here’s how it worked. They had giant concrete blocks stuck in the ground with two thick steel cables connecting across the mountain to another concrete block. They then lock this little wheeled mechanism to it and strap you into that twice. The mechanism has handles on it for you to hold onto, but you don’t have to hold on- it’s just for balance. Plus it makes you feel a lot better. Then they shove you off, you go flying for a while and when you get near the end the guides make a motion to you for you to start braking.
Braking is done by taking your glove, which has a strip of thick leather on it, and pressing that down on the cable. Of course if you miss that strip it’ll probably wear through the glove pretty quickly. If you don’t slow down fast enough there is a rope tied to the cable to help slow you down, and the guides will help catch you. As I found out, if you come in too fast your legs kick up and you’re in danger of hitting them against one of the cables. I did that kind of slowly and got a red mark on the bottom front of my shin. It honestly didn’t hurt at all, but if I’d been going faster it would have.
The guides were great. They were funny and they showed off a bit when they went down. Some hung upside down, which they convinced Hannah to do on the last of the eight lines we went on. They’d also bounce the lines a bit, which was a bit scary but fun. One time when they did that I bounced so high up I felt my helmet briefly hit the cable. On one of the lines they also had a guy in a gorilla mask jump up from behind a bush as you’re coming in for your landing to scare people. Of the whole group, Tori had the best reaction to that. I happened to be the first person down on that one too and she was second, so I was the only person who got to appreciate it, but I did get it on tape.
I wanted to take some video and pictures of the ride down the line, but I never got to the point where I felt like I’d be comfortable leaving one hand un-gloved, though the guides said we could.
Michael and Warren both saw a monkey. It was actually on the line with the gorilla mask waiting at the end. I did not see a monkey, which was a little bit disappointing to me.
The only really hard part of it all was that after the first of the eight lines we had to walk about 300 meters to the next station. It was really steep and almost all gravel, and believe me, it was a workout!
After the zip lines we all came back to La Casa Romantica. Hannah, Michael and I took showers and Barry went out to surf for a little bit, but he said it wasn’t much of anything. We ate dinner here as well, which was better than the lunch. I had a pasta and tried the fish Michael and Hannah had and actually liked it. Barry ordered some more Chilean red wine, something-Diablo, it’s called, so we are referring to it as the Devil’s wine, still in pursuit of the vivid dreams he’d had before. Michael and I had a bit of it too, then we all split an ice cream.
The family we rescued yesterday happened to be here tonight as well and surprised us by paying for our entire dinner, which they really did not need to do. We also happened to see some more people that Barry knows from back home at the restaurant tonight. Seems like everyone in Wilmington comes to Nosara.
We came back to the room and crashed after dinner. Michael and Hannah play-bickered while I chatted with Amanda then Nick and finally Amy. The Warkentiens had watched Australia with Amanda at our house then stuck around to take showers because their hot water heater is having issues.
Zach Dotsey