Somehow Jennifer convinced Jeff and I to join them on their zipline adventure. We were excited to go along for the drive to RAK since we had never been there before and it sounded cool to see the different landscape in another emirate. In preparation for the zipline, we went online and watched a YouTube video of someone's GoPro from the experience. I will admit, I was not thrilled about taking the zipline ride but I was willing to go along with it. I'm normally the thrill seeker so I was surprised that Jeff didn't seem more intimidated.
The next morning, we drove the 2.5 hours up to the Jebel Jais mountain. It was fascinating to see the landscape change from flat desert sands to a backdrop of rocky mountains. As we drove up the twisting and winding road into the mountain, we were surprised to see so much wildlife. There were wild goats wandering everywhere along the drive, even sometimes crossing the streets right in front of us. So cool!
When we finally made it up to the zipline area, we could see the cables for the zipline running across the mountain tops. It was likely around that time that Jeff and I began to freak out! What had we agreed to do??
We boarded a bus that drove us up to the highest point of the mountain for the zipline. There we were fitted with the harnesses that would take us across the mountain. I was faking my smiles in the photos at this point because I was so terrified.
After we were all harnessed up, we boarded another van to drive to the launch platform of the zipline. I'll be honest, this van ride may have been the scariest part of the day so far, ha! More twisting and winding up steep inclines with no guardrails on the roads, yikes! When we finally arrived, we approached the launch platform tentatively and awaited instructions. It was now clear that we had lost our minds!
I volunteered to go first with Rylie because honestly I just wanted to get it over with! I was terrified and may have almost cried. They put you in a Superman-pose on the cable, so you are lying flat and staring down at the mountain below. I appreciated that they double and triple checked the harnesses before they started the countdown. And then, we were off!
I'll be honest, the ride was terrifying. I never quite settled in to be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery and views. I was traveling so fast and the wind was so stiff that I remember worrying that my shoes would fly off down into the cavern below. Lying flat on my stomach made it difficult to lift my head and look around at the view. It was definitely a spectacular experience, but I was so frightened that I just couldn't soak it all in. When the first stretch of the zipline was nearing the end, I didn't make it all the way to the exit platform (not sure why but it happens sometimes). I was left dangling from the zipline cable over the mountain, too afraid to move a muscle, and awaited one of the zipline guides to come rescue me. He traveled on the cable out to where I was and instructed me to grab his ankles as he worked his way back to the exit platform. I was never more excited to reach solid ground - although I'm not sure how solid it was, considering it's a suspended platform supported only by cables and rocking with every gust of wind. The photo below is from their website, which doesn't seem to do it justice. Oh, and the floor of that platform is see-through glass!
From the suspended platform, I watched each member of our group arrive in pairs. When Jeff made it, he actually kissed the ground of the platform, ha! Once we were on the platform, there was one more segment of the zipline that we each rode individually. I was the first to get all strapped in and ride that one. The guy working the straps and harnesses sensed my fear and decided to give me a hard time. Right before he sent me down the line, he called out to his buddy on the platform, "Is this how I'm supposed to set it up?" or something like that. Say what?! Everyone apparently got a real laugh out of that, except me of course!
We rode the last zipline segment one by one, and then we were all finished. We had all survived, phew!! We took a few photos before we loaded back in the van to return to the base camp area. It was a gorgeous day, simply perfect to take in the view from the Jebel Jais mountain. And I could finally enjoy it now that my fear was gone, ha!
Back at base camp, we turned in our harnesses and documented our accomplishment - riding the world's longest zipline according to the official Guinness World Records plaque.
We rode a van back down to where we had parked our car, and we noticed some nearby goats that looked awfully hungry. We took more photos of the goats and the stunning view. What beautiful scenery to take in! I was so thankful that we had shared such a cool experience with the Lettow family and that we were able to see a completely different part of our country. It was an incredible day for all of us!
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