Zipping Exhilaration Up in the Clouds

Being done with the winged creatures and a quick lunch by beautifully landscaped eating area, we moved on to the much anticipated and thrilling part of the day – zipping through the cloud forest of MonteVerde, Costa Rica.

Cloud Forest, MonteVerde

Our guides meet us at the first zip-lining station and put us through the mandatory info and instruction which I wanted to be done with as quick as possible, so I can get there up in the clouds. When you are excited, things like this could seem like forever, but I wish I had paid close attention to them. You will understand why later in this post.

We were fortunate to be part of a small group, so we didn’t have to wait for long at every station. One after another, we took turns to zip through the misty cloud forest. The breathtaking view of the forest, made the kid in me to impulsively surface, and I was so fascinated by the view of the thick green carpet of wild vegetation from the forest canopy and the feeling of flying in the air, that I forgot to even the half-listened rules of zip lining.  I got stuck in the middle with cables above me, all twisted, and seeing me struggle to undo this mess, the guides decided that I, be escorted on every cable cradled by one of them. See what happens, when you don’t pay attention to instruction time?

Each time, we zip lined, my adrenaline went crazy and I laughed so much, may be looked like an overgrown kid to the guides. My spirit felt a new sense of freedom and so connected with nature. My kids absolutely loved this adventure, I wonder if they would have had their fill of satisfaction, if they had all day to keep zipping through the cloud forests.

In between zip lining, my kids got to do the Tarzan swing and loved it more than the former activity. If you have back issues or you are on the heavier side, this swing is not meant for you. Unfortunately, I was having health issues at this time and I couldn’t experience the Tarzanesque thing. I regret I don’t have a picture of this part of the adventure.

After some more zip, zipping, we made our way to find the hanging bridges. If you are a hiker and have the stamina, you will enjoy the walking and climbing up of steps. I am not a hiker, nor did I imagine that this hike would exhaust all of my stamina, and I ventured out into the forest. The bridges themselves looked amazing, hanging precariously over the tree tops of the thick, wild jungle below. Some seemed endless, while others ended too fast, then we had to walk on paved trails, a bit on rough paths, sometimes climb broad set of  well maintained steps before we got onto the next bridge. But this was worth all the aches and soreness we ended up with later.

Trail leading to the hanging bridge

The panorama from the bridges high up among clouds was phenomenal. Just imagine seeing thick, lush, green forests while breathing in fresh, clean, unpolluted air and listening to hidden birds calling out to their mates!! The sound of gushing water, maybe a waterfall or a creek, hidden somewhere under those canopies, refreshing your mind and spirit even more.The only downside to this day trip was that we didn’t come across any animals or exotic birds in the wild like you would see in the travel brochures. I am not sure what the key factor was to this – bad luck or wrong time of the day!

Hanging Bridge at Selvatura Park, MonteVerde Cloud Forest

As we got to the lower part of the forest, we could hear the sound of rain, but for the most part did not feel it, ’cause the dense plant growth and huge trees shielded us from the showers. We just about made in time to the ‘Hummingbird Garden‘ before a downpour of rain cut short our time with these acrobatic little birds. The few red-throated hummingbirds that flit through my garden seemed incomparable to the abundant choice of humming birds that gathered around the bird-feeders, unafraid of human intruders!

Talk about luminosity – some of these had colors that were more iridescent than the others, so gloriously brilliant, what a feast to our eyes and our hearts! Though I couldn’t capture more of these on camera, especially the peacock colored ones due to heavy rain, the colors are still vivid in my memory. My love and admiration for these tiny wonders of nature could only but increase.

All things have an ending, it was time for our adventure filled day to came to an end. But hey, though we were not up zipping through the clouds with a dense green carpet under our feet, our spirit was still on cloud nine when we said ‘Pura Vida’ to the cloud forests of Selvatura Park.