Someone told me that the longest zipline in Latin America was in Costa Rica. I was going to Costa Rica... and there was no way I was going to let this pass me by!

It was in Monteverde, home of the cloud forest: dripping, mossy vines that hung down from enormous spindly trees in an acerage so vast that from above all you could see was a ruffled, emerald blanket spread out over the rolling hills. Nothing else. A land of silent, green leaves beneath which a harmony of tiny creatures sang. Walking along trails on the forest floor was certainly one way to see this beautiful environment; but to actually appreciate the expanse from the top most canopy, to actually feel the damp moisture whip your skin a zipline is deffinatly the way to go!

Around five different adventure companies exsist all claiming to have "The Best" zipline:
"The Original!"
"The Fastest!"
"The Longest!"
But, only one goes through the real cloud forest. So, I bit my lip and took the plunge...not for "The Longest" as planned, but for "The Real Cloud Forest" as recommended by a local who had done them all before.

It was nothing short of breath-taking: Strapped into a harness, suspended from an almost invisible line we soared just under the treetops through shards of silver ribbon... Adrenaline, joy and awe cursed through our blood to reach the climax: The Tarzan Swing!

There have been very few moments in my life when I've thought "This is it. I am not gonna make it! I am going to die!" One of those moments was whilst hurtling down a steep, hairpin road at the dead of night in a bus in Santorini, Greece. The other, was on the Tarzan Swing. Harness on, you shuffled towards the edge of the platform. Then from behind your heels were kicked forward until you were litually teetering on the edge...this moment, standing at the edge of your life, lasted barley a second before you were falling...falling...falling...! When at last the harness pulled taunt around you your stomach had all but gone. And the ground? That had gone too, for you were already up and away swinging on the pendulum back into the high, leafy canopy...

This death drop could only be rivalled by the final zipline -The Superman! For five minutes you were able to fly like a bird: high above the world you swooped with the wind buffetting your cheeks and the once enormous leaves of the cloud forest now mere sparkles in a vast green valley.