Only an hour or so after surviving the Cave of Death (see previous blog post), we were flying through the jungle trees and zig-zaging over the beautiful Rio Claro. Neither myself, my son, nor my husband had ever gone zip lining before, but here we were, doing yet another crazy adventure sport. Like the others, this one started with a terrorizing moment (or 5) before you'd let go and swing off the cliff side. Even my eyelids were sweating out of fear, but it was my sweet baby boy that had been so brave in the cave and on the mountain top when we went paragliding, that was truly distraught. Somehow this combination of elements blew his mind. So, standing in all his gear, clipped to the line, he stood, white faced and trembling.
Now, I am not the suck-it-up style parent (I save that kind of abuse for myself). Between the various things that make up the cocktail that is my young brilliant son, pressure never, ever results in the action you are hoping to get from him. Ask his dad, he has had to learn through trial and much error that this kid MUST make the decision for himself, and no amount of demanding will sway him.
So there I am in a tight perch over the river, trying to talk my son into letting go. Hmmm...that sentence right there just said so much, kinda sums up our relationship. His dad wasn't with me, he had gone 1st to show us that everything was going to be ok (damn, I'm coming up with some great psychological parallels here) so I was on my own. Sorta amusing to think that the 2 people in the family that would be content to never leave the house (der, where do you think he got this "cocktail" of issues from? They are genetic), would be the ones talking each other into jumping off cliffs to fly at lightening speed into the mouths of jaguars on the other side. What? It could happen! It was a Jaguar preserve originally and now it was our "summer camp" style adventure park. Pretty sure there are still jaguars hiding out there. And pretty sure if they are, they would want to attack the cat toy that is a small human dangling helplessly above them.
Needless to say, after some fast talking and the assistance of a Colombian guide that didn't speak any English, our little trouper was flying! I have to admit, there was some element that the other activities hadn't had that made this one challenge the perceptions of fear and fill you with adrenaline. It also was one of the biggest payoffs because it turned out it wasn't scary at all! It was simply a lovely way to see the jungle!
I have no idea how a family that would rather curl up together on the sofa and watch a great movie while sipping a glass of wine, or snuggle under the covers reading a brilliant book...with a glass of wine, or lay on a beach somewhere...with a nice glass of wine (what did you expect? We do own a winery after all. It's called research!) would end up being the Adventure Family of Colombia, but that corny idea to 'embrace life while you can' was being put to the test in a huge way, and we were loving every minute of it. Even, looking back, the moment I swallowed a giant gulp of bird infested cave water had its own glory.
The zipline finished out our time in this miraculous place. If you plan a trip to Colombia, make sure you include Rio Claro Nature Preserve, it is amazing. Now we needed to prepare for our final stop; the very end of our days in Colombia would be in the city of Bogota. We had a couple precious days to explore the bohemian, artistic, University town before we would fly home. Pangs of pain set in fast as we packed to leave the jungle in the morning. How did 2 months go by so fast? Determined to enjoy the last fleeting days in the most amazing country we've ever been to, we started to look forward to the places we'd explore in Bogota and I pushed the hotel review out of my mind that had read:
"if you have to visit this crap city, this is the best hotel in this shit place"
www.VivacWinery.com
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