Today is zipline day! Our trip included a zipline tour of the jungle, a cenote zipline swim, and a fajita and black bean lunch that was out of this world. That’s right – I flew across the jungle on a “cable,” that’s a technical term for a little, delicate, wire-thingy suspended 100 feet into the air which looks like it could barely hold Harry the Pug, let alone a full grown woman. We wore protective gloves, helmets, and were always attached to a special line which prevented a fall so it was relatively safe and absolutely marvelous to experience.
Why oh why am I flying 100 feet in the air with nothing between me and the ground except a strap and a bit of floss??? To get a monkey’s-eye view of the
jungle, of course, or perhaps I should say a Tarzan-like view. I, feeling like the proverbial Jane of the jungle, flew through the trees and experienced nature on a level I never knew existed. Above is a photo of me zipping over the jungle.
Without a doubt it was one of the most thrilling experiences I have ever had. The Selvatica Canopy Adventure introduces participants to the jungle in an adrenaline rush that’s hard to surpass. The guide’s are all fantastic and even helped me videotape what it feels like to zipline. I have no idea how fast we were really going, but it felt like 40 miles per hour. Luis, our daughter, and I zipped across eleven zip lines and truly got to see an amazing view of the jungle from 30 feet up.
Luckily my daughter fell within the age range for going independently across the bits of floss, because quite frankly, Jane of the Jungle doesn’t have the muscle mass of Tarzan and I was nervous about supporting her and being able to man-handle the floss like wire. The tour guides helped her at first, but soon she was flying across the lines like an old pro.
We saw lots of butterflies, plants, trees, and even a hummingbird while we zipped. It was a birds-eye view and a heart-thumping experience. We all loved it. We then went on to swim in a cenote, which is a type of sink-hole that’s prevalent in the Yucatan Peninsula region. Our guides hooked Luis and the kiddo up to a zipline and sent them flying out at least 20 feet above the water so they could let go and plunge into the water. Both of them shocked me by doing this many times; definitely brave souls. Here you see my daughter after she has let go of the line – note the zipline is about 10 feet over her head. Luis is down below to help her if she needed it as the water is very deep.
Finally, we were treated to a fantastic lunch and margaritas by the Selvatica staff before we left to head back to the resort. Here you see us enjoying the lunch and below the zip boys pose with Luis – they were an awesome staff!
For me, this has been a day of living in the jungle I never thought my family and I could ever experience – today I touched the top of the jungle – beautiful!
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Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
I love that skull water bottle! Again.. LOVE this giveaway!
Posted by: Allyson | April 01, 2009 at 09:08 AM
Bottle spotted.
Posted by: TC | March 26, 2009 at 08:35 PM
I spied your bottle too! Wow. That's really exciting--I'm terribly jealous. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: babs m | March 24, 2009 at 09:07 AM
Flying with the monkeys - how fun. What out for the bird poop.
Posted by: S. Janis | March 23, 2009 at 09:33 PM
Shawna,
I see that great water bottle on the table...can't wait to see you guys on Saturday...Have a drink ready.
say hi to the family...Ryder says HI
Posted by: Chris H | March 23, 2009 at 09:01 AM
The water bottle is awesome - and you are the only one who's commented on it so far - - you're entered into the contest - WOOT!
Also - this was the best experience ever. I had so much fun and my 8 year old experienced something so few in the world do. Very cool!
Shawna
Posted by: Shawna Coronado | March 22, 2009 at 09:19 PM
Oh, wow! The cenote and zipline look amazing... and of course the pirate canteen fits right in.
So jealous...
Posted by: Naomi | March 22, 2009 at 09:16 PM
I did my first zipline last October and it was so awesome! It was on a much smaller scale than you did there, but the thrill was still fabulous!
Nice water bottle! ;-)
Posted by: Kylee from Our Little Acre | March 22, 2009 at 09:11 PM
Yiiippppeeee! That looks like fun!
Posted by: Helen / Gardening With Confidence | March 22, 2009 at 08:05 PM
That's a nice water bottle there on the table with your lunch :) The zipline ride looked amazing!
http://www.chrispugh.com/
Posted by: Chris Pugh | March 22, 2009 at 06:34 PM