The biggest excursion we booked for our time in Costa Rica was a full-day adventure with multiple activities in a single day. It turned out to be quite the adventure indeed, more than we could have anticipated! I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm so happy we all survived the day unharmed and ALIVE, ha!
We boarded a chartered bus at the early pickup time of 6:15 am, where we were driven 1.5 hours away on a Guachipelin Adventure with ziplining, river tubing, horseback riding, and even hot springs - all in 1 day! We arrived and immediately dove into our first activity - horseback riding. We joined a large group and all saddled up for a short ride through the trees. The horses sometimes had a mind of their own, but it was a fun way to get the morning started.
Next up on our full day of adventures was the 3-mile river tubing experience along the Rio Negro. I've gone tubing before but wasn't really sure what to expect, but this activity turned out to be quite different from what any of us expected. First of all, none of us besides Kaitlynn had the proper water shoes so we all had to sacrifice our sneakers and get them completely soaked! Second, the river water looked beautiful but was FRIGID! I was completely miserable and shivering the entire time, and during the moments where I was drenched underwater, the water temperature completely took my breath away from how cold it was. Lastly, the river tubing was quite a bit more advanced than any of us realized. I hit my tailbone on a rock during the first pass, several of us were dumped out of our tubes, we thought Connor had badly damaged one of his knees, and there were times where we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into! At the very end of the ride, one of our fellow tubers explained that the activity was more advanced than any of her prior rapids adventures - and she was quite experienced! Looking back, it was a fun adventure but I was HAPPY when it was over (and I couldn't sit normally on my tailbone for about 6 weeks)!
After a break for a nice buffet lunch, we were on to our next adventure of the day - the zipline - which was probably what we had all been looking forward to the most. We considered ourselves advanced zipliners after all the ones we had experienced in Dubai and Singapore, but we had no idea what was in store for us here in Costa Rica. As it turned out, the zipline experience was a series of 8 different cables including a Tarzan swing across a canyon. It even included a rappel down a cliff with a tough climb back up. I started the adventure with a little nervousness but mostly excitement at the fun ahead, but by the middle of the course, I was beginning to feel scared for my life. At one point, I was literally clutching the side of a cliff and holding on for dear life. While we can laugh about it now, I think it's safe to say that my ziplining adventures died that day in Costa Rica! Thank goodness we have photo evidence of the times I was once a cool person, ha! Here's a photo overload from my last ever day of ziplining (lol).
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At the end of the ziplining course, I was so grateful to be back on solid ground but was still quite shook. We caught our breath and unloaded all our gear, but we still weren't finished with our day of adventures. Up next was probably my favorite activity of the day - the mud baths and hot springs. Thank goodness for a chance to relax and unwind after the craziness of the day. The boys all covered themselves in the magical mud, which is said to have healing powers. We all went from pool to pool, testing out the hot temperatures of each. It was so nice to enjoy the warm (hot!) water after the frigid temp of the river earlier that day. I snapped some cute pics of our kiddos and soaked in the gorgeous setting and time together now that I was no longer stressed and scared for my life, HA!
