Zippin' Through the Trees...

We had already had an incredible morning visiting the Copán Ruins. Now our day was about to get even better. We were going horseback riding up a mountain. Then we were going to do a canopy zip ride down the mountain.

After lunch we arrived at our group of horses. Hmmm, these horses looked a little sorry. We could see some open sores and things like that, but Bismarck, our guide, told us the horses were fine. (As a side note, Bismarck had gone to college for two years in Coffeyville, KS. Hey, we were practically neighbors, even if he was originally from Nicaragua.)

We mounted our horses and began to head out. It soon became apparent that most of these horses really weren’t in good condition. Several of them would limp intermittently and none of them had shoes, except for one. And that one was losing its shoes. As we continued, I was talking to Bismarck and found out that they had only had these horses for three days and this was their third trip up the mountain that day. The horses were definitely not used to this kind of work, especially since most gringos are larger than most catrachos (Hondurans) – at least the catrachos that would be riding a horse.

We continued on, but soon the mountain turned up, straight up. We were on about an 18-19% grade and most of the horses were slipping terribly. Chris was behind me and she told me that my horse was sweating buckets. I couldn’t take it anymore so I dismounted. The poor horse. Sweat was literally pooling beneath him. So I walked him for a bit. Then we reached a house (one of only about two that we passed) where Bismarck knew the people. So he talked to them and left my horse there after I told him I wouldn’t ride him again. Soon two others dismounted for the same reason. Call us ‘softies’, but we just couldn’t put the horses through that. I ended up walking the last ½ to ¾ of a mile, although at that grade, it felt like much more.

Finally, we were at our destination. We started getting geared up for our ride down. There was a waistbelt harness that also went around each leg, with a steel pulley-type thing hanging from it. It was cinched pretty tightly. Then we donned a helmet and some heavily padded gloves. Basically, the gloves would serve as our brake.

For those who are wondering what a zip ride is, it’s where you zip down a steel cable, from tree to tree, secured only by your pulley. You hang on to your harness with one hand and use your strong hand on the cable. To slow down or stop, you lean back, letting your body weight pull down on the arm/hand that’s running on the steel cable and you slow or stop. Oh yeah, you’re doing this over and through the forest – sometimes as much as 100 feet above the tops of the trees.

Earlier in the day, when we learned about this, we thought it might be two or three zips and then we’d be done. Well, we had FOURTEEN runs to go down. The first one was our practice run. We were given very specific instructions. Everyone listened; there was no fooling around now since if we messed up, well…

I knew that several people were a bit scared or nervous at first. Me? Believe it or not, I couldn’t wait for my turn. The thought of doing this was awesome. I was a little surprised that a few of the military people were scared, but I didn’t say anything about that.

Finally, it was my turn. Bismarck put my pulley wheel on the steel cable, gave me last minute reminders and then let me push off. OHMYGOSH!!! This was fantastic! There was absolutely no fear at all. The first run was considered a short one; it was about 150 meters long. We were supposed to slow down/brake in the middle, and then continue to the end. When I reached the end, one of the girls told me that she could see I was in total control the whole way. It even felt that way to me.

It was our third run that was the best, the most exciting and also the longest. It was over 500 meters in length and was highest above the trees, completely out over the valley. Out there, about all you can hear is the wind is you zip down at about 60mph. It was absolutely incredible and convinced me that I need to try hang gliding, parasailing and maybe even parachute jumping. (Note to self: add those to life’s ‘to do’ list.)

We continued on, zigging and zagging through the trees, over the trees, over the valleys and down the mountain. On several of the runs, we had a clear view of the ruins. As our time progressed, I started to get just a little nervous that we were quickly running out of daylight. I knew that we definitely didn’t want to be doing this in the dark (although part of me thought that would be cool also). I don’t think Bismarck took into account how long it would take a group of 10 (plus three guides) to get down the mountain.

By about run 7 or 8, many of us were ready to be done. It’s not that it wasn’t exciting, but it was more that we were tired. It had been a long day, first walking through the ruins, then riding (and walking) the horses up the mountain. Plus, this was also a physically demanding activity. When we got to the 14th cable, I was sad that it was almost dark. We were going to zip through the trees and then break out over the river before finally landing on the other side of the river. This run was probably 300 meters. It would have been incredible in full daylight. Even still, it was pretty spectacular in the waning dusk.

Once everyone was on the correct side of the river, with their feet firmly planted on terra firma, we gathered up all the gear and it was stowed away. Then we all got in the back of a pickup truck for our trip back to town. I think the driver was trying to extend the fun because he seemed to take every opportunity to hit every pothole & bump and whip around each corner. Maybe he was trying to see how many gringos he could throw from the truck. I wonder if they get points for that here.

Back at the hotel, we paid Bismarck. The cost? Are you ready for this? I mean, in the United States, the zip ride itself would have cost at least $100-150 per person, and we would have had to sign mutliple releases of liability, and probably even updated our wills. Here? The total cost, including the horseback riding, which was for about an hour and a half, was only $30US per person. Nope, I’m not kidding? 30 bucks. Incredible. Heck, next time I say, "let’s skip the horseback riding and drive straight to the top of the mountain." And, I sure hope there is a next time…

This is Sgt. Bell, getting ready to push off for our first run. No, that's not a parachute on her back.