Prior to bungee jumping in Costa Rica I only had one such experience which was in Gunma alongside a Japan-based postgraduate classmate. It wasn’t what I hoped for for the reason that the elastic cord was attached to the waist and not to the ankles. (Choosy pa?) Nonetheless, it was still as fun and exhilarating. And oh, did I mention that on a cable car 143 meters high, at the time of writing jumping Monteverde Extremo Park’s is the highest bungee jump in all of Central America?

It was 20 minutes past two and I had just returned to the reception area of Monteverde Extremo Park after ziplining through the lush forests of Monteverde. By the way how I kept asking the receptionists, one could judge me infer how thrilled I was for my next activity, which I’d say stands next to skydiving.

Within ten minutes, those who were bungee jumping were called and off we went to meet the cable system. There were eight of us and they were loading the tram with a maximum of five persons including two guides so we were divided into—do the math, honey. The first to go was an Indian couple and apparently they were doing the Tarzan swing as well.

Icebreaker

When the tram reached the heart of the valley, I made my way to the observation platform to get a perspective of how crazy the shit’s gonna be. After seeing the two lose a portion of their breaths, my I’m-already-here-so-might-as-well-do-it disposition took over like a poltergeist that I came back to the rest of the group with an additional wristband indicating that I’m also doing the Tarzan swing.

I was going in with a Canadian couple and while waiting for the first group a handful of conversations transpired, which included me sharing to everyone how “disastrous” my first bungee jump was. Also…

Someone (to the couple): Where are you guys from?
Couple: Canada.
American woman: Fucking Canadians.
Everyone: *laughing*
Canadian guy: That’s the first time I heard that!

The icing on the cake was the presence of another Filipino who was accompanying his workmate who was also doing the jump! Dunno why he didn’t jab me at all when my jersey was literally bellowing “Pilipinas”, but when his companion gave him away, I jumped the gun and was delighted to know that despite having moved to the United States their household is still using Tagalog.

Bungee Extremo

At 18 minutes past three, my ankles were already bound while the cable car was settling between the mountains. I was the first sacrifice and without any fuss, was already on the edge of the platform about to throw my life away. If there’s one thing I learned about leaping off things such as cliff jumping, it would be to jump off as soon as you can; the more you prolong being on the edge, the more your legs will wiggle the way Jason Derulo sang his song. (Unless we’re on a different context, of course.) In fact, the guides only had two things to say:

1. If you have acrophobia (they didn’t actually use the term; too fancy), don’t look down and just look ahead.
2. Without looking down, jump forward as far as you can!

There was a GoPro mounted on the helmet and another one held by one of the guides. I wasn’t going home without any proof souvenir of the activity so paying extra for the video was out of the question. Still, I asked the Canadian couple if they didn’t mind recording my jump on my phone. They obliged and later on I was more than happy to return the favor.

Oh, yeah, about the actual jump. I didn’t save a second when the guides’ countdown ended in that I immediately plunged into the valley. Remember: He who hesitates is lost! As usual, I was howling at the top of my lungs. It’s an extreme sport, for Pete’s sake. You’re not supposed to stay quiet! If I find free fall to be the best part of skydiving, for bungee jumping it would have to be the recoil, particularly the first ones. *fist pump*

I mean, why wouldn’t you pay for a video, right? Aberrant Titan in the house!

Video

A massive shoutout to Gyom for the music!

My being “off the hook” (you need to fasten yourself to another cord to be pulled up) lasted for almost a minute and, from the moment I jumped, it was just about two minutes and 40 seconds until I got back on the platform. Time does fly jump, doesn’t it?

Here’s me feelin’ thee vibe~! #muntanga #hithitPa

Extreme Tarzan

Monteverde Extremo Park’s Canopy Tour was essentially ziplining across canopies in Monteverde and already included a Tarzan swing. I didn’t research enough to know about the latter so when the hostel attendant told me about it, I was swayed on my decision to do the Extreme Tarzan and only booked the Canopy Tour and bungee jump.

But as I already mentioned, I became adamant about the Extreme Tarzan swing again by just seeing the first group being transported by the tram to the middle of the valley. My company wasn’t doing the activity so they were more than happy I was more than eager to ask them to record me again.

I guess there’s only one way to describe the Extreme Tarzan swing: It absolutely felt like my body left my soul, which is the opposite of how it should theoretically be. If you’re doing the activity and not shouting your lungs out, I will judge you as the most lifeless thing on the sole planet that allegedly harbors life.

Unfortunately, no video was taken from the guides’ GoPro as they didn’t coordinate with each other. After initially faking my release, I was easily let go as if my feelings didn’t matter while the countdown was still at three! The guyde (see what I did there?) on the right was still preparing the action camera but I was already “Tarzaning” away.

Me: Do you need to countdown or something?
Guide: Yes. 3, 1!
Me: *leaves soul behind*

As for the recording on my phone, it was fortuitously cut a split second after I started baying. The Canadian lady was apologetic about it but who was I to complain when—and she knows it herself—her video of my bungee jump was badass? And so that left me with the footage of the GoPro on my helmet, which will make you realize that my pores are clearer than your future. So… Nope, taking a pass on showing that one for now. The entire swinger activity took around four minutes.

I snapped a photo with my group in my good-morning hair (thanks to the helmet) and, while it didn’t materialize because of how busy the season was (or simply because it was only a spur of the moment), it was very nice of them to offer swinging me around Niagara Falls on my freezing visit to Canada the following month. At five minutes past five we were back on land and wished the third group, which was almost overtaken by another group, good luck.

I took one last look from the observation deck to relive what just panned out, before bustling excitedly to secure a copy of my files.

Tips

• Check with Monteverde Extremo Park on the weight requirements. We can’t afford any disappointment, can we?
• The first item on the two-item list above. It will help!
• Don’t prolong your agony and just jump off that damn tram.
• Like when skydiving, try not to close your eyes as you dive head first. Savor it.
• If your stomach really can’t take it no matter how hard you attempt to get your ass off the platform, you might consider having the guides just push you hold you while you lean forward and then let them release you at their disposal. Okay, that might not have sounded encouraging but you get the point. It was like that in Gunma. You just gotta do it, bruh.
• Bundled tours can be cheaper, so I would’ve saved some bucks if I booked the three activities—Canopy Tour, Bungee Extremo, and Extreme Tarzan—from the start. Ho(s)tels can also do the booking on your behalf and sometimes could further slash the price.

Expenses

Visited: November 2019

The post Bungee Jumping in Costa Rica: Monteverde Extremo Park appeared first on Itinerant.

It was my penultimate day in town and after taking things to greater heights at Monteverde Extremo Park, joining a night walk, and getting a visit from white-faced monkeys at Que Tuanis, I could’ve just stayed at the hostel and lazed around. But then, the front desk attendant, who ended up calling me Josh during my stay (and I just let her because who knows if I was a Josh in another life), told me to visit the Ficus tree in Monteverde.

So what is a Ficus tree? Welp, thought you’d never ask! Actually, it was also the first time that I learned of such a thing. (A thing!)

A Ficus tree, also known as a strangler fig, is among the plants that grow on the surface of another plant. Ever heard of orchids? However, unlike orchids, this fig continuously grows upward for sunlight while its roots go downward, ultimately enveloping and strangling the host tree after making contact with the ground. The original tree sometimes dies, leaving the Ficus tree hollow and on its own.

Remembering Science classes, the Ficus tree and host tree have a symbiotic relationship of commensalism, but unbeknownst to the latter, it can transition into a form of parasitism. Traidor! It’s like being betrayed by someone you used to snuggle with all the time.

I was told of two Ficus trees in particular—a hollow strangler fig as described above and another which takes the form of a bridge. After Googling photos of them, I knew I just had to pay a courtesy call on the Ficus tree bridge even if looking for it eats my entire day that I can no longer check out the other one.

Ficus Tree Bridge

The hostel attendant’s instructions to turn right, from the road, to a narrow path was crystal but I was having a hard time looking for it. Fortunately there was a local nearby so I whipped out Google Translate, keyed in “tree bridge”, and went ahead with:

“Buenos dias! Tengo una pregunta. Donde esta el puente de arbol?”

He pointed me to the path and even waited for me to find it. At seven minutes past ten I started making my way through the woodland, followed the trail, and walked and walked and walked…

Until I came across a sign four minutes later which read:

“Do not pass. There’s a crazy man with a gun.”

For not having seen any sign of life at all apart from the greenery, I immediately turned on my heel and guided myself back, though in retrospect it was essentially just a message indicating that it’s a private property. And that’s when I remembered another instruction: Once you hit the river after going down the path from the highway, follow it downstream to the right where the Ficus tree bridge awaits.

Sure, I Googled it beforehand, but it was still nothing like I’ve ever seen before. Otherworldly, it was. From the looks of it, it indeed seemed to have grown on a fallen comrade. With no one else around, I scampered for my tripod and went for the kill. It was the first time I brought it so an experimentation naturally ensued; I hurriedly took multiple shots from different angles in fear that someone might come and spoil the moment and make things #awkward.

I crossed to the other side to test if it was a portal that’ll whisk me away to its origin but immediately there was a drop so I could only do so much. Still feeling dissatisfied, I tried other angles and eventually found one that fit the entire tree in the frame. I was fucking sold. I wallowed there for roughly 30 minutes and no one else arrived. Huzzah!

Hollow Ficus Tree

Hiking to the other Ficus tree wasn’t the easiest as I, after looking it up on Google Maps to be “El Arbor Hueco / Ficus Tree”, found myself on a continuously steep road. I’m not one to whine but I was definitely gasping for air. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge signage was my landmark; there was a path leading into the unknown woods across it.

Before long I came across a strangler fig in all its erect glory. I’m very certain I’ll never see a wormhole in this fleeting life but from its base I would like to describe it as one (if not a monster’s orifice, that is). It was a thing of beauty.

During my hookup with this Ficus tree a Dutch woman lady girl and an American couple came by, with the guy remarking that he thought a monkey left its backpack on the ground. (Do tell!) Like many Caucasians, they hardly took photos and didn’t stay long so I was once again saved from being seen as a loner, desperately aspiring for good and emotional dramatic photos.

It also gave me a chance to scale the tree again. Went up as high as I could with my good old pal and spent another 30 minutes in total including the second photo shoot of the day.

At the hostel that night I met a Swedish couple who thought I was a photographer (ano ba!) after seeing me browse a million photos on my laptop and phone. When the guy caught a glimpse of the Ficus tree bridge, I learned that they looked for it, came across the warning sign as well, and was about to follow the river but gave up because it was already getting dark. They were leaving at first light so the regret on their faces was beyond doubt when I told them that it was only a few steps away had they pursued it.

Tips

• Visiting these Ficus trees is one of the things you shouldn’t miss when in Monteverde on a trip to Costa Rica because it’s free. If the hollow Ficus tree also sits on a private property, though, there’s a chance that this might totally change. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
• The structure of a hollow strangler fig makes climbing it as easy as pie. You just have to be careful when you’re on your own or when it’s wet (why are a handful of things dangerous when wet anyway). Better yet, if your monkey instinct tells you not to ascend, then don’t.
• You could actually also climb and be on the Ficus tree bridge. I didn’t go for it because I was already euphoric ogling it from the ground and there was also no point if my intention was to take photos using the tripod.
• I was told later on by the hostel attendant that I was lucky no one stole my things while I was climbing the Ficus tree. In other cases, cars parked outside of the woods are broken into through the windows.
• Furthermore, I was informed that I was in fact at the wrong Ficus tree, as there was a bigger and hollower one. The one you should be seeking is the one below, courtesy of Danielle and Anna. You could climb it all the way up to the canopy. All was still good for me, though, thanks to the Ficus tree bridge. But I wonder if the Dutch and the Americans knew that we were at the wrong one?

Visited: December 2019

The post Climbing the Ficus Tree / Strangler Fig in Monteverde appeared first on Itinerant.