Day 10: Adventure Day

The view we had before heading down the mountain

Our last full day in Paraguay, Sunday, Dirce arranged for us to go on an adventure in the rain forest. We were told this adventure included zip lining and hiking. Dr. White was less than pumped to go zip lining, so she asked if she could skip that part. Marcelo told her that she probably could, and he thought there was a bus that you could ride around the place and look at everything. Turns out Marcelo is a liar... On a scale of 1-10 of extreme adventure, this was definitely a 12. First you were fitted with harnesses, helmets and gloves. Then we hiked down a mountain in a large group where we encountered a rope bridge whose footing consisted of oddly sized and placed boards.

Lyndi conquering the rope bridge 

Everyone in the group tackled this without too much difficulty, a few even having extra fun and bouncing it around while crossing being careful not do do so while Deanna and Dr. White were on them because both are afraid of heights. Next was a single wire, followed by a wire and plank combination bridge. Both were extremely challenging and we were pretty worn out after (editors note: Dr. White skipped the wire bridges, she's too old/scared for that kind of thing).  After hiking a while longer, and crossing another rope bridge, we zip lined across the gorge getting to essentially fly over the tree tops!

Chelsea and Hannah on the wire

After getting to the other side, we went around a bend and had to repel down the side of a very shear cliff that was about 3 stories tall.  YIKES!! Since the guides didn't speak English, it was a very difficult and confusing experience. Mostly they would just push you into place, which of course was pretty much just pushing you over the cliff. Whew, glad that was over.

Holly on the Zip Line

Lyndi on the Zip Line

Dr. White preparing for the Zip Line 

Brenda on the Zip Line

Chelsea on the Zip Line

Deanna on the Zip Line

Frankie on the Zip Line

Next we had to hike back, which was up the mountain in difficult terrain for 45 minutes. Everyone was red faced, sweating, and out of breath by the top, but had a very accomplished feeling.  The adventure was physically difficult, but everyone agreed we had needed to work off all the great food we had been eating anyway! It was an exciting experience that most of us had never done before and we loved the adrenaline. We were also glad that Dr. White and Deanna joined us even though they weren't too sure about it.

Marcelo coming out of the cave on the hike back up

Abby showing our adventure day gear

After returning to Asuncion, we showered (man we were stinky) and went out for a farewell dinner with Juliana, Paci, Juli, Dirce, and Marcelo. Mostly we chatted about what a great time we had, and how we didn't want to leave. We tried to convince Marcelo that he needed 9 new hands on the ranch.

This was also an early birthday celebration for Dr. White because her birthday is tomorrow which she will be celebrating with us eight in the Asuncion, Ciudad del Este, and Sao Paulo Airports. We are so thankful that even though it is going to be her birthday she chose to travel with us and give us this wonderful opportunity. The Restaurant brought out an ice cream dessert with a candle in it.

The smile and look on her face as we began singing happy birthday was one of the best memories from this trip. It was nice to see that all of us, including our new Paraguay family could make her so happy.  All of these great folks have become like our family and we are very sad to leave them.