It was a rainy soggy day as we made our way down to La Fortuna for a Pure Trek rappelling adventure - prompting the slightly overused phrase 'well, they don't call it a rainforest for nothing'.
Pure trek offices have a 'corporate team building' look and feel to them, complete with coplimetary coffee and t-shirt rack. We were all grouped together with the other 34 people that we would be rappelling with that day and feed a lunch of rice, beans and chicken before we were loaded into vehicles to take us to our rappelling site.
The road to the site was bumpety and, loaded up onto benches in the back of a canvas covered pickup, we bounced all over the place. But that was all part of the adventure. Our guide Albarro was so funny and entertaining that we didn't really notice the time. Albarro is an extreme sports junkie who likes to long board down roads at night with his friends and has done some heavy-duty rapelling... once, injuring himself into bed for 7 months!
We suited up into blue smurf suits (blue helmet, rainjacket and harness, oh so attractive!) and listened to a brief before heading off down paths through the rainforest. As we arrived near the first of 4 rapelling sites, we were strapped onto a safety line so we wouldn't bring ourselves to harm while we waited.
The first jump off a cliff was the most nerve-wracking - and it didn't help that the first one was the tallest by far (165 feet!). The process of connecting our ropes and getting us to turn around in preparation was done so fast that there was no time to think about anything. But there was a second or two when, just before jumping, you have a chance to look down and scare the holy terror out of yourself before being told to jump out!! There was just no backing down at that second though, imagine the shame! Sam was the perfect example for all of us as we kept saying 'if a 6 year old can do this, ...'
I have to admit, my lower lip was quivering on that first rappel down the side of a waterfall .. and it was not due to the cold. Even though I had done some rock climbing in my dubious past, I had never just freely jumped off a cliff into the air (unless you count a few much-shorter jumps into water). But it all happens pretty fast and before I knew it I was done and feelign a little disappointed that it didn't last longer.
My only negative comment about the rappelling layout would be that the jumps should be in the reverse order because once you've done the first one, the others seem a bit boring. Whereas it would've been fun to jump a little further each time and enjoy pushing the boundaries. But it was all adrenaline-packed fun all the same.
The Pure Trek staff are extremely professional and, if anything, the rappelling experience they provide is a super-safe taster for those who may want to take on rappelling challenges later. There were two clips for the harness and in addition to a rope that we each guided through a carabeener to lower ourselves, there was always a Pure Trek guy at the top and and bottom attached to a separate rope that could just lower us all the way down if we lost the nerve and passed out, or happened to be disabled or too small to manage the rope.
The kids were hyped up on adreline and so excited about this activity. Everyone loved rappelling and we'd all love to come back and do it again.
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