I find myself lining up for the first zip line in Panama. I really enjoy doing these kind of things, I have tried many different of these so-called extreme sports, I have already done tombstoning in "la piscinita" in San Andres. My adventure this day is the zip line circuit in Panaca, there are five sections of this in total two thousand meters of cable at 100 meters high, while moving at 80 kilometers per hour for 25 minutes.
Given the risk that can come from the great height and cables that can break at the slightest mistake, the park promises great security. In front of me there are only two people. I move a lot because I am very nervous, the minutes pass faster than I would like. The guy with the red uniform and red cap signals me that it"s my turn, I approach and smile at him while he adjusts my suit. My hands tremble and before I can shout out my regrets I am pushed, thrown into the void with enormous speed. I close my eyes and tighten the suit and after about five minutes I get used to it and open my eyes to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
During the first two stretches everything was perfect, but in the third one I felt the cable very weak – and indeed it was: it made the harness tremble… There were about five minutes to reach the base, so I didn"t give it any importance. I held on to the harness and waited to arrive safely, so I could warn the employees of the failure.
At one point, the cable made the harness brake dry, and I was stuck, over 100 meters high, I screamed until my throat hurt and according to my watch, I had been standing there for more than 10 minutes without help.
Luckily, I remembered my cell phone in the back pocket of my shorts. I took it out and dialed the number of dad’s who had to be waiting for me at the next base, the call went like this:
D (dad): where are you? we have been waiting for you for ten minutes - he sounded worried and angry.
I: I"m stuck in a part of the route...
D: WHAT?!
And he hung up on me. I got very scared. But, finally, after ten minutes the cable, NOT ME, the cable started to move. When I got to the base, I discovered that when this happens, there is a motor that moves the cable. Lucky me!
written bei Sofía Vélez, year 10, December 2021