¡Pura Vida! pt. dos

This mini post is dedicated to what we did AFTER our hike, which deserves its own post, because of how magnificently terrifying and glorious and electrifying and INSANE it was and that is: ZIPLINING.

Have you ever been on a zipline? We were in a group with children, so we figured it couldn’t be that hard, and the men who worked there, a jovial band of sweet jokers, kept telling us “¡Es más faciíl!” Let me tell you: no es más facíl, mis amores. No es más facíl.

We didn’t have time to change after our hike (we got lost in Pura Vida, something that apparently happens a lot out here) so half of our party was in shorts… cardinal sin numero uno when ziplining. When you’re strapped into that harness in shortie shorts, you immediately get the unnerving sense that you’re thousands of feet above solid ground, wearing a diaper. The instructor had us put on a helmet and sign a waiver (usually I avoid any activities that involve either, I always avoid activities involving both.) He reminded us to avoid holding the line BEFORE your clip, because you could lose your fingers, or your hand. Great.

It is an unnerving thing, being terrified, as an adult. I can’t remember the last time I was terrified. What a feeling it is, feeling unmoored and incompetent, trying to remember all the steps, all the safety instructions, not feeling ready but knowing your turn is coming, understanding that, to a degree, there is no way of knowing exactly how it will be until you do it. We are always telling our students to be brave, be courageous, take risks, dive in. How hard it is to walk the walk.

Here’s another you should know when you zipline in Costa Rica: the phrase ¿PUEDES AYUDARME POR FAVOR?” which means CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE? That’s the phrase you need to shout at the tour guides, who are calling to you to use your useless spaghetti arms to pull yourself the rest of the way to the platform when you run out of steam three-quarters of the way there (also note to self: use the five-pound weights at SoulCycle, those measly two-pounders are doing NOTHING for you.) Also, a lesson in energy transfer, when the next person ziplining careens into you, they will transfer their kinetic energy to you, sending you flying the rest of the way to the platform. Kind of like playing pool. That’s science for you.

All joking aside, however, ziplining our way through thirteen platforms (YES THIRTEEN that was also quite the surprise; we thought we were done after the first one) was a lesson in courage, and empathy. It is easy to talk brave; it is difficult stepping out into the unknown with just couple of ropes and carabiners keeping you from the abyss below. But boy does it feel good when you do.

Thank you Ray, Pablo, and our wonderful friends at Terraventuras for the extra gray hairs, and the life lesson we’ll never forget.