Post from Tim:
We started the morning on a 6:15 bus/taxi to the Reserva Santa Elena.
The Santa Elena cloud forest reserve offers over 12 km of trails winding through dense Costa Rican rainforest, complete with beautiful scenery and diverse wildlife. This being a rainforest in the rainy season, the trails can get pretty muddy - and the trail we chose quickly turned into a long string of muddy holes.
We quickly found the hike worthy of the mess. The quiet sound of light rain in the forest canopy is very relaxing. And although we didn't see any of the much sought after quetzals, one could stand for hours admiring the forest growth.
We left the park covered in mud and headed over to the close by SkyTrek. In all honesty, this has been one my favorite experiences so far on the trip!
When I was 10 years old, a neighborhood friend installed a zipline between 2 trees in his backyard. By holding a simple pulley device, we flew though the air from tree to tree. Take that basic idea, multiply it by 1000, and you get the adult version called SkyTrek.
The SkyTrek tour lasts a couple of hours. It starts by strapping you into a harness and walking you into the forest via a suspension bridge. You climb a tree and off you go.
The first couple of ziplines are short and help you get comfortable with the equipment. As you fly in and above the forest canopy, the ziplines quickly get longer and higher. Tarzan meets George of the Jungle! I had a smile on my face like I was still 10 years old.
After about 8 ziplines, we walked to the top of the mountain and came to "the big one." As if leaping from the top of a mountain wasn't high enough, we then climbed to the top of a very tall observation tower. We all held tight to the railings. The wind was so strong that we were literally worrying about flying off! Our very calm and cool guide Gustavo explained that the zipline was about 1400 feet long and 400 feet high. Standing on the platform, I couldn't help but compare that to a 50 story building.
From my point of view, the zipline connected the tower I was standing on to the clouds in the distance. When my turn came, Gustavo strapped my harness into the pulley system and told me to have fun. Then he pushed me into the clouds.
What a ride!
The Santa Elena cloud forest reserve offers over 12 km of trails winding through dense Costa Rican rainforest, complete with beautiful scenery and diverse wildlife. This being a rainforest in the rainy season, the trails can get pretty muddy - and the trail we chose quickly turned into a long string of muddy holes.
We quickly found the hike worthy of the mess. The quiet sound of light rain in the forest canopy is very relaxing. And although we didn't see any of the much sought after quetzals, one could stand for hours admiring the forest growth.
We left the park covered in mud and headed over to the close by SkyTrek. In all honesty, this has been one my favorite experiences so far on the trip!
When I was 10 years old, a neighborhood friend installed a zipline between 2 trees in his backyard. By holding a simple pulley device, we flew though the air from tree to tree. Take that basic idea, multiply it by 1000, and you get the adult version called SkyTrek.
The SkyTrek tour lasts a couple of hours. It starts by strapping you into a harness and walking you into the forest via a suspension bridge. You climb a tree and off you go.
The first couple of ziplines are short and help you get comfortable with the equipment. As you fly in and above the forest canopy, the ziplines quickly get longer and higher. Tarzan meets George of the Jungle! I had a smile on my face like I was still 10 years old.
After about 8 ziplines, we walked to the top of the mountain and came to "the big one." As if leaping from the top of a mountain wasn't high enough, we then climbed to the top of a very tall observation tower. We all held tight to the railings. The wind was so strong that we were literally worrying about flying off! Our very calm and cool guide Gustavo explained that the zipline was about 1400 feet long and 400 feet high. Standing on the platform, I couldn't help but compare that to a 50 story building.
From my point of view, the zipline connected the tower I was standing on to the clouds in the distance. When my turn came, Gustavo strapped my harness into the pulley system and told me to have fun. Then he pushed me into the clouds.
What a ride!
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