When we wake up on Thursday we find that we are in Mazatlan. Mazatlan is located on Mexico’s gold coast and is the home to Pacifico beer.
Or should I say cerveza? In any case, Mazatlan is also home to Huana Coa which is where we entertained our carefree, uninhibited sides on our canopy adventure. When we arrived, we were outfitted with some attractive harness equipment including helmets and gloves. We were also warned to douse ourselves in bug repellent, but Nick and I hadn’t brought any so we were SOL.
Yes, this is a truly hideous picture. Of me. Not Nick
After we got our cute suits on we hopped aboard a Swiss All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) which took us into the Sierra Madre mountains. The ATV ride was enough adventure to satisfy me for the rest of my life. Our guides drove us up some steep inclines with nary a seatbelt and a busted rear door that had all of the passengers holding onto their fellow zip-liners for dear life. If you’ve been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland then you know what I’m talking about (except, there were no giant Pooh Bears in this neck of the woods).
After the horrifying ride up the mountain, we were instructed on how to safely maneuver down the zip lines. It was here we learned not to grab the zip lines or else we would rip our arms out of their sockets. It was also here that I tried to figure out the best way to break it to Nick that I would not be joining him on the journey down nine zip lines, two “nature” walks, a suspension bridge, and a vertical drop. The speech I had silently prepared in my head, however, never quite panned out. In my frenzied, panicked state, I remembered that the only way to get back down to Huana Coa’s facilities was to take the ATV; hence, I did not chicken out like I would have liked to. (I’ll have everyone know that one woman did, in fact, opt for the ground instead of the sky and made her way back down the hill via the death contraption).
As we stood in line, I was shakin’ in my Pumas and sweating in my heavy duty, industrial type gloves. And, of course, I had some serious butterflies flapping away in the pit on my stomach. But, as I descended down the first zip line a sense of strange calmness washed over me. Yes, dangling from wire 5,000 feet (that's a lie) up in the air was strangely relaxing. And fun. And breathtaking.
After completing the canopy adventure, our next stop was the Los Osuna Blue Agave distillery. This little field trip was an f-ing bore (snore), so I'll spare you the details. But, I will mention that Nick scored a few yummy shots of blue agave while I watched so as not to add dehydration to my list of worries. Also, a vendor at the distillery tried to sell us a fake Louis Vuitton ring to replace Nick's wedding ring. Surprisingly, Nick did not want to rock a ghettofied ring with a big "LV" on it. I don't know why, but it is really Nick's loss then, isn't it?
On our way back to the ship, we fit in a little shopping and managed to snap some photos with some giant frogs. All in all, Mazatlan was muy bien.
you're so brave. i don't think i could handle the zipline.
ReplyDelete