La Pura Vida! Zip lining through the jungle in Costa Rica

La Pura Vida! Zip lining through the jungle in Costa Rica

Hola amigos! Cómo estás? I knew you’d be back.

As most of you know, over Christmas I spent 7 wonderful days at the all-inclusive Riu Palace Costa Rica where I soaked up as much sun as I possibly could, sipped on some of the best coffee I’ve ever had, and made my way through the Cloud Forest in Monteverde where I fraternized with butterflies and sang with the hummingbirds. Well, there was one other thing we did that I think (considering it was probably the funnest thing we did outside of sipping on dirty monkeys and watching our tan deepen) may be useful for travelers headed South; we zip-lined.

The history of Zip Lining

According to USA Today travel tips, zip-lining in Costa Rica started with a pair of graduate students named John Williams and Donald Perry, both rock-climbing enthusiasts seeking a better view of their botanical and entomological subjects. In order to shorten the distance between them, William and Perry clipped themselves to a line and created the world’s first first zip line.

Up up… and away!

Knowing that we wanted to zip line since before arriving in-country, we arranged an excursion through our hotel that was operated by Sunwing Vacations. That being said, for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the tour. The good news is that no matter where you’re located in Costa Rica, you’ll find somewhere to zip line. In fact, many people choose to combine a visit to the Cloud Forest in Monteverde with zip lining in the region! There are so many forest and jungles scattered through the country, that you’re bound to find something that’s right for you.

After arriving to the zip line park which consisted of 11 ropes to zip from, the first thing we had to do was strap ourselves in. Our gear was hard core – so we liked to believe – and included a diaper like harness, protective gloves and an oh-so flattering helmet.

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Living the Pura Vida! 7 days all-inclusive at the Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica (Guanacaste)

Living the Pura Vida! 7 days all-inclusive at the Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica (Guanacaste)

Have you ever seen the movie Six Days Seven Nights, starring Anne Heche and Harrison Ford? If you haven’t, where have you been? Seriously! The movie is a fabulous depiction of a pilot and his passenger who get stranded together en route from one island to the next and will have you rolling over in laughter. My point? Well, the movie might have been filmed in Hawaii but when it comes to getting stuck on an island – or in this case a mainland – my vote goes to Costa Rica.

We flew in on boxing day after the Christmas rush, a first for my family but the beginning of what will surely become an annual tradition. Out of Pearson International, we arrived, about six hours later in Liberia, Costa Rica. We flew with Sunwing Vacations – affordable with obvious downfalls like no personal entertainment system and a rather limited selection of food and drink, but hey, the price was right and we got a glass of champagne soon after take-off. Sold! After we pulled in to what was a surprisingly large airport, we made headway to the bus that would drive us the additional 30 minutes to Guanacaste and the Hotel Riu Palace Costa Rica. We arrived at sunset to this view of the resort… need I say more?

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