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Walking Across The Hanging Bridges In Central Costa Rica

Hanging Bridges….. Oh my!

Chains bridging the valleys and streams in the mountains.

Oh, yeah…….I’m scared to death of ‘heights’!!!

But I did it.  It wouldn’t be an adventure if I only did the things I was comfortable doing!  That doesn’t provide a new experience……I want new experiences.  I figure it like this, If I do something that I’m not comfortable with that has an element of danger……..it’ll make for a good conversation for my kids if that experience is fatal.  Plus, I don’t want to die with dreams within…..I want to die with the memories of the experience.

But, I’m not doing ‘hot air balloons’!!!

Before I go any further I do have a return visit to Costa Rica in the plans……but that’ll be to the Caribbean side.



Back to the hanging bridges…..  Everything starts off rather innocent. Looking at the plants and flowers.  Here’s a dangerous beauty.    The plant isn’t dangerous, or poisonous. The danger lies in ‘snakes’ lurking about the plant in search of prey!!  Learned something new!  And those plants are around here at home.  Fortunately we don’t have much in the line of live snakes here……most get run over on the roads.  Well, they do!!

Back to those ‘Hanging Bridges’.    One thing I had to constantly do was tell myself (under my breath) that this is ‘safe’.  As you’ll see, they appear to be sturdy.

Walking Across The Hanging Bridges In Central Costa Rica

  That’s Stephen our tour guide…..smart guy, helpful too. You’ll notice the metal that girds it……  But won’t you don’t and won’t see is the swaying these bridges do.  Plus when you’re walking and you look down at the bridge and you see how the joints are secured in so many places and then you look and think, “WTF”……..nothing holding those joints together!!!  Yeah, it’s real.  And trying to take pictures on them is a challenge……REMEMBER, they are not stationary, there’s nothing supporting them from underneath and they are swaying back and forth!!

Freak me out!



Remember!!!!!   I don’t like ‘heights!  Scarred of heights!!!

Check this out…..  Do you know what this is??  It’s a  tarantula home!!!  Yep!    Another one     Those guys grow BIG as you can see!!!  They are just a tad in the whole unless they sense danger.  Smart guys they are.  They sense the vibrations of the ground around their hole and know when food is arriving!!!  Hehehehehe.  I only saw one, it was a smaller one and the tarantula was about 4 inches in…..and when I say smaller one, that sucker would fill up the palm of my hand!  That’s not small!!!!

Walking Across The Hanging Bridges In Central Costa Rica

So, we’re trekking through the Rainforest……heading for these ‘Hanging Bridges’.   We have to climb this mountainous rainforest area to reach them and they are also our link back down……just different bridges. 6 in all I think we traversed. 



It’s my first trip through a rainforest too.  And true to it’s name……it rained.  A few times.  The growths were beautiful!

Here’s a treat our guide led us to:    Stephen used my iPhone with his binoculars to home in on this little creature.  A ‘Red Frog’!!  He doesn’t spit poison but he is poisonous to touch.  It seems there food, primarily mosquitos convert to a poison that is secreted thru their skin!!! Now, this poison won’t kill a human, but we would become ill.  The degree of sickness depends on the individuals immune system.

Oh look!!!  Another bridge!!  

Here’s a bit more of the rain forest…..there’s a few snakes out there too. I just couldn’t find the pictures.  All the snakes were small.  Stephen, our guide noted that the snakes don’t move around too much.  They will spend weeks in a spot, the one that provides the most food.



  This last one is looking out south of Arenal Volcano at the mountains in the distance.  Driving up this mountain to the rainforest I couldn’t have done…….too steep!!!

Walking Across The Hanging Bridges In Central Costa Rica

I’m still pinching myself that I would undertake this excursion……and I’m referring to the whole trip.  I’m wondering if I knew, would I have gone to Costa Rica volcanos and rainforest!  I don’t like heights!!



Finally the last one…… 

Okay, I did it!!  I’m back on ‘solid’ ground.  But I’m still way up in the mountains!!  Now, it’s too get down.

I want a beer!!!!

Would I do it again???  Yes.  But, I wouldn’t drive the whole trip.  Fly from San Jose to La Fortuna or bus up the mountain…. that way I could enjoy the view, maybe. From La Fortuna catch the transportation provided by the Resort and move about thru the tours from there as that’s what I did anyway.  All the other stuff I wanted to do and did was on the grounds of the resort.



Next up…..I’m not sure what I’m gonna write, I’ll look into the pictures and see…..Over 2,500 pics!!  Yeah, I’ll be loading up my pic page here later on.

Peace, love, and beaches! (I want my beaches!!!)

John

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