I did not believe I can fly...but I did!

Long distances from my feet to the ground really scare the heck out of me. I do not thrive the feeling of cheating death by dropping from a hundred meters to the ground in a roller coaster, or taking a 90-feet elevator ride up the cross in Mount Samat, Bataan. Any kind of activity which involves me being in a high plane, I usually say no outright. I said usually because sometimes, I purposely hit my head on an imaginary wall and raise my hand on some thrill-seeking, heights-involving stunt. And I did bang my head hard yesterday when I said yes into trying out ziplining at the Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. I didn't know what came into me. Maybe it's because my 65 year old (I think) grandmother tried it and afterwards she started flapping her arms and kept calling us "chickens"! My cousin and I were watching the other people seemingly flying from the first point to another AND loving it. Maybe that sparked a hidden thrill-seeker from beneath me...way beneath me. So I tried it, and prodded my cousin to try it with me, which she gave in finally after much prodding from my relatives. As soon as she said yes my legs quivered with fear and I wanted to back out. But my very quick aunt went to get the tickets already and my relatives gave me the look that we had no choice. To add more fright, she got us the back-and-forth ticket instead of only one cheat-with-death ride!


My cousin, who tried it before hand, escorted us to the starting point and then we got strapped in supposedly safe, orange harnesses hooked in what looks like a carabiner. I thought of the carabiner attached to my camera pouch and remember how easily it can be pushed open. I asked the assistant whether the ride was safe, and of course he assured us that it is. To make it easier for us, we decided to zipline sitting down. When we were completely strapped and ready to go, I really really chickened out and asked to be let go. So did my cousin by the way. But those wily assistants hoisted and reeled us back then pushed us! They pushed us while I was screaming and yelling to be unstrapped.

Surprisingly, I was glad that they did that because the ride was fantastic. It was exhilirating and during the flight I was not scared at all TRUTHFULLY! I even looked down and saw treetops a hundred feet or more below and I was not scared not even a bit! I was screaming out of excitement though and celebrating the feeling of an accomplishment.

When we got to the end, I felt so good my cousin and I hurriedly rushed to the second starting point. We got stupidly braver and dared ourselves to ride it lying down, face towards the ground! Once again, when we were completely strapped in, we pleaded that we be positioned sitting down instead. The thought of looking straight down directly viewing the spots where I might fall into was not very encouraging since I am afraid of heights. But just as the first one, we were pushed (you got to really hand it to these guys!) and then we were off flying (technically)!

I screamed so hard but it was a scream of excitement and exhiliration. It was better than sitting down and looking straight down didn't matter much because the feeling of seemingly flying gave me an adrenaline rush! I didn't think of the fact that the carabiner might snap any second and my excitement would immediately turn into screaming for my life. I wasn't really thinking that time and was just enjoying the ride, the extreme feeling of it.


We reached the end point by hitting the hanging tires, which I think, is a nudge to reality and says "No, you can't fly!". As I got off the harness, I said "It was fun...SUPER FUN!". And then my relatives quipped, "We told you so!". They told me so alright. I am glad that they released this sort of daredevil in me, even if it be a tiny daredevil, at least I know I had it in me!


I just wish my cousin did not take a picture of me when we got pushed because it is definitely not a pretty sight. And no, I am not posting it here! Haha!