More of Banos: Ziplining and a Person Puenting Off a Bridge

Banos is a haven for adrenaline junkies.  Canyoning, or rappelling down waterfalls, is offered at each of the 150 adventure shops jammed in 4 square blocks.  Most every shop rents mountain bikes.  Whitewater rafting is huge, as is zip lining and renting dune buggy-type cars.  So I went with Geotours on Lonely Planet's recommendation and on their high score for safety.

Some guy picked me up and drove me in a little truck to near where the waterfall road was.  When you enter the place, there are trout ponds where you can pay to fish for a trout.

Here's what a few tourists found in the trout pond:

Much better looking than the 1/8 inch thick trout I had one day in town.  So anyway, we walked up to the little office and got hooked into our harnesses.  Then we walked up to the first zipline.  I didn't get anyone to take a shot of me going down Superman style where you go head-first like you're flying.  Scaaaary.

Here I'm coming in, in bad form.  Legs should be crossed.

We were up really high, maybe 300 feet?  And it was over rocky rivers.  Just less than ten years ago, this didn't scare me.  But now since I'm old (I guess), I had a few long moments of panic as I zipped along, imagining how much it would hurt to fall and hit those rocks.  This picture overlooks my second to last zipline.

See the black line in the middle of the pic?  That's what I was on.  It went to the end of where you see the white water.

After we were done and back at the office, this cute little dog absolutely refused to walk on the leash.  Every time the guy pulled on the leash, he flattened himself to the ground.  Hysterical.

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Back to Banos:  There is a new adventure craze in Banos and it's called puenting, which can be translated to "bridging".  It's like bungee jumping but instead of bouncing up and down, you swing like a pendulum under the bridge.  Imagine the bridge.  You stand perpendicular to it,  jump straight out so there's little bounce in the rope, and you swing in a huge arc underneath the bridge.  I caught a pic of this guy right before he jumped.

He jumped straight out, head first.

See him swinging under?  This was seconds after the jump.  I'm looking over the edge of the bridge.  I did not have the guts to do this.  No sireee.

Micellaneous Banos:   There are numerous stands where you can buy these little paper "cups" of toasted corn topped with a tomato/onion/cilantro mixture.  The locals go crazy over this -- everyone has one in their hand while walking down the street.  But it's best to find a park bench in a beautiful park like this and eat it.

This is Banos!  Loved it.