This morning I woke up bright and early in Monteverde to the sound of exotic birds chirping through the open window of my 2nd floor hostel. How very Costa Rica, amiright? I went down to the kitchen where fruit was prepared for breakfast. On my plate was an assortment of pineapple, watermelon, and half of a banana. For those who don’t know, I literally can’t think of a single thing that I hate more than bananas. I was torn though because I was starving. So … I ate half a banana. Half. A. Banana. Talk about developing as a person while traveling. FYI – still hate bananas.

I then headed off to the Monteverde Cloud Forest (not to be confused with Rainforest. I was corrected by my tour guide. *Shrugs*). I first started on a private zipline tour with three awesome guides. I desperately wanted to speak Spanish with them, but >this girl< was not up to snuff. At one point I started joking with them by saying, “Claro que si” (which means, “Yes, of course”) to anything they said in Spanish. Lawd knows what I was agreeing to.

At the end of the zipline tour, there’s a free fall to get to the bottom. And just look how adorable and eager I was! So impressionable.

My tour guide Jean instructed that when he counts to 3, I will jump back as far as I can. Yeah ok, I thought. A little terrifying, but I’m a brave girl who is traveling the world. Jump into a free fall? Psh, my lyfe is a free fall.

So Jean begins counting. 1…. 2 ….3! As I begin jumping backwards, he goes “no, wait!!”

Y’all. That was cruelest joke that I have ever encountered.

Look at this face. Look at that desperate plea for help.

When I safely landed on the ground, I had a good laugh. But my racing heart was a little more unforgiving.

I continued the day with a hiking adventure through the Hanging Bridges. Because it’s currently low season (rainy season) in Costa Rica, I had the entire trail (five bridges) all to myself. The serenity was beautiful. Just me and the chirping birds.

Also – fun fact. To get these photos, I’m using a tripod and a camera remote on my phone. Sneaky sneaky!