To Swing or Not to Swing?
There is this thing called the Tarzan Swing. You swing out on a bungee over the jungle and river. I looked at it, and didn’t feel very brave. The guides teased me. Maybe to make me feel better they gave me the impression that most people choose not to swing. My impression was that even those who have done it a lot got scared. My impression was wrong.
We arrived at the Jungle Camp and it immediately started raining, which I thought was a pretty hard rain that would rival my midwest thunderstorms, but which I was assured, “wasn’t very hard” So we were unable to zipline in the rain, but the Tarzan Swing was still an option. It was our only option.
I thought it was crazy. I mean can it really be safe in the rain? I tried to talk every single member of my family out of it. I mean who are they trying to impress? What do they have to prove? What if it hurt their back? What it something was slippery? They would get wet. Not a good idea.
Maybe my protests spurred them on, but finally my teenage son decided he had the courage and was going to show us all that we were babies. One by one each of my kids, and then my husband were shamed into giving it a go to show they were brave as I watched with an open mouth.
They all said: It looks scarier than it is. You’re standing on the edge looking at how high up it is and you’re thinking about a drop and you psyche yourself out. You have to say the key word to get it started and “Puerta” becomes the hardest word in the world.
In reality it’s like a swing. You shoot out more then down. You don’t feel that free fall feeling at all. It felt like a giant swing – and it was smooth and fantastic.
After the first swing out they realized how fun it was swinging back and forth over the river and jungle and would let go with arms wide. Then they leaned back and swung upside down.
After they were back on ground, they each lined up to do it again. It was that fun.
Their advice is to just hang on to the pad in front of you, don’t think about it, and just go. You will love it. My 12 year old to my 44 year old all did it and had a blast – even in the pouring rain! So standing at the top looking down and trying to decide if you’re going to do it – my advice is to take that plunge! Do it! You won’t regret it and it will become the time of your life!
Puerta!
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