Day in the Life of a Zipline Guide!

It never got old!

After training for a grand total of 1 and ½ days Becky and I awoke to pounding on our yurt door and were informed that we were desperately needed on the zip line course. We climbed the 50 ft tower geared up with a harness, helmet, lanyard with clips, and a trolley ready to zip through the trees. For being complete rookies we handled ourselves with amazing style and confidence.

As a kid I used to love climbing trees, which is a past time I haven’t quite grown out of. The fact that I get to play in a rainforest canopy for a living blows my mind ever day! Our zipline course consists of 7 different zip-lines and an obstacle course complete with a swinging log and tons of other fun stuff to play on. My job is to clip people up to the ziplines and send them to a receiving guide who catches them on a tree house-like platform on the other side of the cable.

Explaining to people how not to fall out of trees during the safety talk

This is certainly no job for the faint of heart! Everyday brings a new battle scar as we are constantly body-checked and slammed into trees by some guests who have perhaps enjoyed the cruise ship buffet a little too much.

 All of our clients are from cruise ships that stop in our port for a few short hours. Their only job is to work up an appetite while enjoying their choice of a variety of different excursions, and then enjoy their everlasting buffet as they sail off to their next destination.

There isn’t quite a way to describe the feeling of adrenaline mixed with some healthy fear that I acquire as I brace myself at the edge of a platform situated 60 ft in the air, arm outstretched, trying to smile at the giant guy zooming at me, knowing its my job to stop him in his tracks.

Early on I learned to trade my expression of terror for an “eye of the tiger” appearance so as not to let the lovely tourists in on the fact that they are inches from clobbering me. I wish I was able to wake up everyday loving my job like I did doing this!

Preparing to catch someone!