Zip-a-dee-doo-da
Megan’s birthday was spent on the shores of Lago de Apoyo, a crater lake near Granada. We spent the weekend at a lake-side hostel swinging in hammocks, reading, floating in tubes, kayaking, and jumping off docks again and again and again. We stargazed and marveled at the rising of the moon over the crater. We made delicious fruit salads and smoked fine cigars. All in all, a good way to celebrate 25 years.
Today we flew through the air attached to cables and carabineers and ropes. Needless to say, it was slightly less relaxing, but equally as fun.
After following the bumpiest road I have ever been on in my entire life for about an hour, we reached the coffee finca above which our “canopy tour” (basically a ropes course) was to be held. This road is was definitely intense enough to warrant some blog attention. It was as if someone had haphazardly strewn boulders across a rocky beach and then decided to dig trenches between said boulders and then out of spite or malice decided to call his creation a road. It was that bad. It was so bad that it was kind of like another ride that we got to go on before and after our main event. So really, we got more for our money.
The course itself was fab. It was just the two of us — I think because we were supposed to do it yesterday but they forgot us, so they felt like they owed it to us to squeeze us in today even if no one else was signed up. We donned super stylish equipment and dragged ourselves up into the trees where we proceeded to slide on zip lines from one tree platform to another attached to pulleys for about an hour. About halfway through we began discussing how we weren’t scared at all and that even people who harbor a fear of heights would probably be okay since the guides make sure that you are, at all times, attached to a rope or cable. Directly after bragging to each other about our bravery, our guide non-chalantly said “hey look, there’s a gigantic spider!” Oh how we spoke too soon. He wasn’t joking; it was, without a doubt, a gigantic spider. Luckily, we were able to quickly zip away. The course ended with a 60 foot rappel, which you can choose to do kind of like a free fall. I told them I wanted to free fall it and then proceeded to scream bloody murder when I fell. Who knew that free falling out of a tree would be so scary?
-Sarah (with help from Megan who is now a year older)
P.S. In unrelated, but even more fantastic news Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story, the latest film by Bill Kavanagh (fabulous father and documentarian) will be airing on prime time in New York on channel Thirteen/WNET February 2 at 9 PM. Right after NOW with David Brancaccio. Remote controls at the ready, my friends.
Tags: Central America, Granada, Nicaragua, Scary Bugs, Travel
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“Who knew falling from a tree would be so scary?”
That’s my little girl. Oy. I still remember you and John David getting his Rottweiler all stoked up to chase you two around— at what, the ripe old age of five? You were always a little thrill-seeker.
It does sound like a blast, except for the spider thing.
Thanks for the docu-plug too. Yaay!
That`s funny. The only recollection of that event that I have is being terrified of that little Rottweiler puppy chasing me around John David`s house. Did we really provoke her? Oh the antics of the little John David and Sarah… those were the days.
(I`m so psyched about the Doc… I wish I had some way to watch it, I`m guess I won`t have access to NYC channels in Ecuador.)
-Sarah
hmmmmm. cigar smoking? free falling? KAYAKING???!!!!
congrats to bill!!!
love to all.
B
mmmm . . . reminds me of when I lived in the East Village in a rat-infested hole (that was in the five minutes before the East Village became bourg central) and my roomate (and I mean ROOM mate, since it was a single rat infested room) brought home fifty illegal Cuban cigars of highest quality after a night spent catering a do for the editor of Cigar Afficianado, and we smoked them for the rest of the year. Delightful! Of course, we didn’t pair that with freefalling off our roof or swinging in hammocks . . . I wish we had! Freefalling! You are so badassed! But of course the point is, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!!!!!! We raised a glass to you on the actual day, but I failed to write in to the blog because my life has become a crazed series of impossible tasks, and will remain a crazed series of impossible tasks for the next six months. Tra la la. My advice to the two of you: NEVER RETURN TO THE RAT RACE. Just keep right on freefalling, spider-sighting, hammock-swinging, book-reading, bumpy-bus-riding your way to happy delerious delightful bliss. And on that note, back to the slog. HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUARTER CENTURY WISHES!
hmmm — I have absolutely no memory of sarah deliberately provoking the rottweiler. But then again, I plan to have absolutely no memory of sarah in a cave up to nose in water with a candle about to blow out and blind fish nibbling at the stumps that are all that are left of her legs… or megan freefalling from redwood-sized trees while spiders related to King Kong wait open-jawed below .. no, wait… one is gnawing on the bungee cord … I WON’T REMEMBER! I WON’T!
Here’s what I will never forget…
I go next door to pick Sarah up from the Kealy’s house and come in (nobody ever answered the door there) to hear peals of giggly screaming and the sound of little footsteps running, followed by paw-nail sounds. John David and Sarah are mock-scared and running as fast as they can into the kitchen, followed at high speed by the “puppy” Rottweiler (whose name I have semiconsciously blacked-out- and which, by the way, was big enough to knock down a human adult and chew his head off).
Sarah and JD continued running right up to the Kealy’s kitchen counter without slowing down then and launched themselves, on their bellies, headfirst onto the top of the countertop and continued “screaming” gleefully as the dog-beast rammed into the counter cabinets.
I do not remember much more, except that I felt faint and tried to encourage Sarah to play with JD at our home more after that.
The puppy`s name was Cola, like the soda.
-Sarah