Sky Adventures - Sky Walk & Sky Tram
Even with Jess's former zipline career, extreme adventure activities were off limits for our trip because Jess was about 33 weeks pregnant. This made the Sky Adventures hanging bridges and tram sound like a great alternative. We got shuttled to the property and were the first ones on the trail through a series of 6 suspended bridges. Thanks to our great introduction to Monteverde birding the day before, I was on the top of my game for finding and identifying birds. I was solid on the trails but not so much on the bridges, they were SHAKY! I think Jess had to constantly resist the urge to shake and wobble the bridge, which wasn't a laughing matter for me. By the end I got fairly comfortable but the longest bridge was 774 feet across and having to pass strangers was scary - just having to go completely to one side of the bridge when I wanted to stay put right in the middle.
The tram was like a closed ski lift and is mainly used to get all of the zippers to the top of the mountain who then proceed to zipline down back down. Fortunately for us, they have an option to tram up, take a look around the top of the mountain, and take the tram back down. There was a tall observation tower at the very top which offered some pretty expansive views but it did start to get a little windy and I quickly felt like I was starting to exceed my capacity for heights and exposure.
These first photos are of us!
The tram was like a closed ski lift and is mainly used to get all of the zippers to the top of the mountain who then proceed to zipline down back down. Fortunately for us, they have an option to tram up, take a look around the top of the mountain, and take the tram back down. There was a tall observation tower at the very top which offered some pretty expansive views but it did start to get a little windy and I quickly felt like I was starting to exceed my capacity for heights and exposure.
These first photos are of us!
The hanging bridges and observation tower offered many more vistas than normally found throughout the forest habitats.
Before I unload all the bird photos, there were some good looks at other critters and fungi. I got my first good looks at a coati in the parking lot!! They're like raccoons, but cuter and not nocturnal.
Last but not least, the birds from our hanging bridges hike! When reviewing my photos back home I found 4 or 5 more "lifers" (birds observed for the first time in my life) that I had misidentified in the field and ended up being new species that hadn't been reported or documented by me on any of my lists throughout the trip. It was nice to get some looks and photos of birds that I had only heard the day before.
Exploring the lodge and a stroll through town
After the hanging bridges we went back to the lodge to relax around the gardens. Jess had an artistic vision of looking into this big agave-type plant a la Alice in Wonderland but we just ended up laughing at how silly they came out and how far from her vision they were. We also had a close encounter with the resident coati that transformed Jess into a stereotypical Aussie in the Outback.
Impromptu maternity shoot with my beautiful wife and baby mama! I think I captured Jess's post-massage energy pretty well :D
Tuesday evening we walked down to Santa Elena, about a 10 minute walk from the lodge, to do some shopping and have dinner. We found some fun murals and got a few souvenirs for ourselves and family. Dinner was good, we sat on the patio at a restaurant that only had 5 tables. We felt fortunate to just walk up and get a table because we watched countless people get turned away or get a 30 minute wait because they were full.
After dinner we walked back up to the lodge and while we were passing through the driveway something flew straight towards Jess and spooked her pretty good. I was pretty sure it was an owl so we grabbed my camera, got a pair of flashlights from reception, and went back to find it. And we did! A beautiful mottled owl. Jess held the flashlights while I took the photos. We make a great team. After the owl we spent some time in the gardens doing our own DIY night tour which resulted in plenty of frogs, sleeping birds (a toucanet!), and a big ol' huntsman spider. That wrapped another amazing day in Costa Rica!