OMG- Zip lining is exhilarating!

We decided to go with Extremo in Monteverde for our zip lining excursion, since they were flexible about letting the kids do it as well. Monteverde rain forest happens to be the birth place of ziplining and canopy adventure. A mixture of excitement and nervousness had created a weird sensation in our stomachs, evident on our faces! While Chinmay and I had zip lined in Alaska over 4 years ago, this was Costa Rica and it ought to be different! Kahan was clueless to what lay ahead of him and was super excited to be "Curious George" going from one tree to the other! He was enjoying all the attention he was getting during the prep and orientation from fellow travelers marveling at how 'brave' he was! For the guides, his name was "Batman" and he didn't complain! Parishi's nervousness only lasted till she went on the first line and then she wanted to keep going! Vihaan was the dare-devil amongst all of us, save Chinmay who also went "Superman style"! We had to zip through a series of cables of varying lengths and height, speed (Some of them were super fast!) with lots of uphill walking through the rainforest between cables. The kids mostly went tandem with the guides and we went solo except for the really long lines when they coupled us up. The weather was on our side, the mystical Monteverde weather of patches of sunshine and clouds until the last and the longest 1 km cable when it had started pouring heavily. While the Tarzan swing was out of question for Adya and me before we had started, we gathered enough courage and decided to give it a shot anyways! However, my courage melted away as soon as I was harnessed and ready to jump from the platform and I backed out! But once Parishi did it successfully, she wasn't giving up on me! I could hear shouts of "Mommy, if a kid could do it, you can do it too! You have to, mumma!" I couldn't let her down and besides Adya was shouting from down below, "Shukan, it's not bad at all, just do it!" The first free fall was petrifying, and it was all thrill thereafter! The adrenaline rush in the forest was so much that it was quite perceptible and audible with screams of fear and excitement! I have to admit, I was so glad I did the "Tarzan Swing" and a little proud too!

READY-SET-GO!

CHINMAY ZIPLINING 'SUPERMAN' STYLE!

After a quick bland lunch at the cafeteria in Extremo, we were on our way to Quepos to begin the last leg of our trip in the Manuel Antonion area. The drive was beautiful throughout and having a big luxury bus to ourselves was pretty cool! We all instantly loved our accomodation at the Villa Tranquilas, a 16 unit vacation rental most of which were part of fractional ownership. We had an adjoined villa with two units connected, 2 kitchens, 2 separate living rooms and 4 bedrooms upstairs between the two villas. We felt very much at home in the spacious tropical setting with beautiful grounds full of well manicured flora and a couple of swimming pools right in front of our villa. We had picked up some basic grocery from the nearby store, "Maxipali" and were looking forward to a leisurely breakfast on the patio dining table! We went into the Quepos town, which was 5-10 minute cab ride for dinner and ended up eating at "Dolce Vita", an Italian restaurant with mediocre food.