La Selvita
10:46 AM
Saturday I went on a Canopy tour in the rain forest of Costa Rica. I went with a few friends from school. We got up early on Saturday morning so we could do the 7 a.m. tour. The reason we did not want to do the afternoon tour is because the weather is typically nice in the morning and early afternoon. However, it is hard to say if it will rain or not in the afternoon, around 1 or 2 pm. Therefore, we choose the early tour.
We had a 45 minute "Costa Rican Massage" (a.k.a. a ride in a van on EXTREMELY bumpy roads) in order to arrive at the destination, in the rain forest. On the way there we were told about the many teak trees that can be seen on the sides of the road. The government instated a program to help combat the illegal deforestion of the rain forest. Apparently teak trees grow fast, close together, and are a hard wood with very few knots. The wood is sold in the market and it deterrs the deforestion because the wood is of a higher quality and cheaper. This progam has helped cut down the deforestation of the rain forest by almost 80%! It is incredible.
In addition, we saw a lot of palm trees and the fruit of the tree, which is used in a lot of soaps and other types of daily use products. Do you know the palmolive dish soap??? That is made from the palm tree fruit (or at least I think it's a fruit).
Anyway... we finally made it to the little camp in the forest. It was so muggy because of the climate and the rain that we have been having overnight the past few days. They fed us a Tico breakfast of pinto gallo (rice and beans), eggs, and fresh fruit. It was delicious. They then suited us up with the saftey equipment, harnesses, carabeaners, helmet, gloves, and I had the first aid kit (for my allergies to bees).
The first few lines were pretty slow. Then we went to one of the longest. You had to make sure you did not put pressure on the wire (with your glove) so that you could make it all the wayacross. Many people have a natural reaction to pull down with thier hand, which the friction slows you down. I, however, did not have this problem. I wanted to go faster and faster =) All together I think we did 12 or 14 platforms (going from one to another). On one line, they had the guy on the opposite platform "bounce" the cable so you went up and down. It was pretty cool. Some of the zip lines were so high up and it was amazing to look around and see the beauty of the rain forest.
After we got back to the begining we went to nearby waterfalls called Cascadas Gemilla, Twin Waterfalls. It was fun, but by the time we got back to the house, around 1 p.m. I was exhausted. The following day, Sunday, my body ached a little from using the muscles in a different way. But, it is all good now!
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