Today Michelle and I went on the first of our scheduled tours. When researching the area I came across information on Canopy Tours which are basically zip lines through the top of the forest in the Sierra Madres. I was really excited about doing this, and since its exactly the kind of thing Michelle likes to do as well, I knew she'd be up for it. When we were booking our tours, the travel agent told us about the Outdoor Adventure with Vallarta Adventures (if they offer something, go on it!) Which is a canopy tour on crack!
We rushed upstairs to change and grabbed a taxi to the Pier. This is when we discovered that people here are very friendly, very helpful, and don't give you any more information than you specifically ask for. So if you don't know what you are doing, you end up talking to thirty people to before you have all the steps taken care of - okay so maybe it was only five, but come on! :-) At the Pier we boarded an inflatable motor boat and sped crossed Banderas Bay. On board we met a couple from Maryland and a family from Long Island on. We turned upstream at La Boca de Tomatlan - the mouth of the Tomatlan River - an area with beautiful houses built into the side of the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. The river was too shallow for our boat so they sent a smaller boat out to pick us up. It came along side our boat and we changed boats and rode that to shore. From here we got in the back of a jeep/truck and travelled up into the mountains (the Sierra Madres).
We rushed upstairs to change and grabbed a taxi to the Pier. This is when we discovered that people here are very friendly, very helpful, and don't give you any more information than you specifically ask for. So if you don't know what you are doing, you end up talking to thirty people to before you have all the steps taken care of - okay so maybe it was only five, but come on! :-) At the Pier we boarded an inflatable motor boat and sped crossed Banderas Bay. On board we met a couple from Maryland and a family from Long Island on. We turned upstream at La Boca de Tomatlan - the mouth of the Tomatlan River - an area with beautiful houses built into the side of the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. The river was too shallow for our boat so they sent a smaller boat out to pick us up. It came along side our boat and we changed boats and rode that to shore. From here we got in the back of a jeep/truck and travelled up into the mountains (the Sierra Madres).
At the base camp we met our guides: Yalenty, Julena, Aldofo, Angel, and I can't recall the last guy's name (for that matter, I may have made all of their names up). Anyway, they fixed us up with the proper harnesses and helmets and then took us into the woods where they introduced themselves and explained the ground rules and how to's. From there we mounted mules and rode up into the mountains for 20 or 30 minutes. Once we dismounted a wrangler took the mules back down and we hiked up the rest of the mountain, pretty much straight up. The view was amazing. Overlooking the jungle and mountains and water. From here, we followed a series of zip lines down the mountain and through the jungle to a waterfall. We rappelled straight down the waterfall and took three more zip lines down the mountains.
We returned to Base Camp to change and dry off and then rode back to the river and took the boat home. We are discussing dinner now as I type this.
More later.
We returned to Base Camp to change and dry off and then rode back to the river and took the boat home. We are discussing dinner now as I type this.
More later.
sooooo? how much fun was the zip line? holy cow...i bet it was fun! Did you get to fall into a pond/stream/lake thing, like Indiana Jones? Watch out for the Leptospirillis (sp?) glad you had fun!
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