.: La ultima dia

So, maybe we should have taken it as an omen when the Arenal Volcano started spewing this morning.

And then raining down ash as we made our way to the zip line.

And, yes perhaps I should have ignored this bulls**t poster. Not even!!

And, when we parked and I got out of the car and looked up to see what that whirring noise was and saw this . . . (yes, that is a human hundreds of feet up)

or this . . . (yes, that speck is also a human)

I should have put my tail between my legs and run whimpering back to la finca. Well, you know what they say about hindsight. Lu said when I got out of the car and looked up and saw that, I said well I can't do that! Then she and I had a great hysterical laugh/cry! Lu says that is the nervous system doing something or other to relieve stress and get us back on track.
Ok, so up we climb to check in. A guy escorts us to the equipment room where they outfit us with harnesses, helmets, gloves and the thingy that fits over the very thin cable that you will be attached to 300 feet above the ground for up to half a mile at a time. I am not making this up.

Here I am with an I can't believe this is happening to me and please let there be a plague of locusts or a volcanic eruption so I don't have to go through with this grin. Those are some of the reasons on the list behind me for why you can't go up. Check out Lu - she is practically as hysterical as I am.

So here we are waiting for the tram (I was told it was a "gondola " ha!)

And this is what it looks like

So, we start to climb and climb and climb and climb and climb and well you get the idea. There is Lago Arenal in the background waaaaaaaay back there and hello? This does not even look like me. I am trying to smile but that looks a bit like a grimace. That's what happens when your teeth are clenched and you are contemplating your last moments on earth, I guess. (I met a woman at the top who said, now I know what TMJ pain is all about!)

Well, we get to the top and they hand us this red sugary concoction which I guess helps to get your mind off the eejit thing you're about to do plus gives your blood sugar a little spike. Courage. Then, we gather around and the guy says ok, here is how I clip you to the cable, you need to lean back in your harness, keep your arms straight, your ankles crossed and your knees up - kind of the fetal position. He says if you look around you are going to twist so just move your eyes and Lu says what if I faint and he doesn't get it and I say, you know, pass out and he says oh, well of if you let go you will be like a helicopter. Wonderful.
Well, we get two little practice runs. And, I'm sorry but because there is no chasm below you and it is only a few yards and you zip to the first platform and then to the second, it is fun and exhilarating. And you think, I can do this! Then you get to the big daddy. The real thing. And it stretches out over a 300 foot drop, tree tops below you, can't even see the end of the cable. And I say I have to do this. No fear. The guy says ready senorita? And I say no. And, he pushes me off. I couldn't figure out where the screaming was coming from and then I realized oh. That is me.

For some reason, I can only open one eye and it is focused on the next platform, as in please please just get me there. The guys shake the cable when you get near and you have to open your legs to slow yourself down but you are going 50 miles per hour. Yes, you heard me right. And, you come flying in and they slow you down with some sort of rope setup at the last minute but you stop so fast you go almost upside down and they are unhooking you and moving you to the next one. Oh hell no. I am not going. Well guess what? Only one way down. Here I go again.