Look, Mom! I Can Fly!

If you could possess one super hero power, what would it be?

While I have yet to find a way to walk through walls, turn invisible or have the strength to lift a Panzer VIII Maus, I have uncovered a way to fly like a bird above the Costa Rican rain forest for only 45 US dollars!

Straddling the Continental Divide at 1440 meters (4662 ft), the Monteverde Cloud Forest area offers one of the most interesting place to visit in Costa Rica. The forest is boosting with over 2,500 species of plants (including 450 kinds of orchids), 450 species of birds and innumerable reptiles and mammals, including: jaguars, tapirs, coatis, toucans, sloths, agoutis, howler monkeys, tarantulas, poison dart frogs and the famous resplendent quetzal. Within the immense flora, and fauna and situated high up in the tree tops, lies an exciting offering where you can fly above the forest and through the clouds on Costa Rica's premiere canopy experience.


The adventure begins with the canopy guides harnessing you with the all the appropriate equipment and going over all of the safety procedures. Then you're off to the first of 13 cables and 16 platforms assembled up to 150 feet above the forest floor - sufferers of Acrophobia beware! As if that isn't enough, there is a surprise at the end of this adventure; but more about that later.

Climbing up to the first platform is an overwhelming experience. The first emotion you may encounter is fear as the platform tends to make relatively loud creaking noises that intensify the higher up you get. The smell from endless vegetation lingers in the air. The restricted air movement combined with the high altitude is enough to make your body work harder than usual to get oxygen deep into the lungs. But, the view from the top of the platform is enough make you want to sell all your positions back home and relocate to this newfound utopia.

You can choose to fly solo or opt for "taxi service," meaning one of the guide will go along with you for the ride. As soon as you are strapped to the cable, the guide will tell you hold on to the line with your stronger arm for balance and speed control. Your other arm is used to balance your weight by holding on to the center strap that connects you to the cable. After you're strapped in, you have approximately three seconds to reconsider before you are forced to take the plunge. Stepping off the platform is the hardest part because after that, there is no turning back. You quickly pick up speed as you fly over tree tops and into the clouds. As the wind brushes across your face and forest floor comes and goes, you feel liberated. As you soar through the sky, your depiction of freedom takes on a whole new meaning.

Twelve cables and fifteen platforms later, you come face to face with the last and most exciting cable of all. Stretching one kilometer, it is the longest in the country and has you flying at 50 kilometers an hour. You are required to partner up for this one, as the weight of two people is necessary to get from one side of the cable to the other. Having someone else with you makes the journey that much more special because no mater how many times you try to explain this experience, there really are no words.

Oh, and the surprise at the end...a tarazan swing of course! Check it out:

Whales Fall in Love - Help Put an End to Commercial Whaling!!!

In 1986, commerical whaling was banned worldwide. It was thought to be one of the most monumental and iconic conservation victories of the twentith century. Since the moratorium passed, however, Japan, Iceland and Norway have still killed roughly 30,000 whales. They hide the illegality of these killings under the guise of "scientific research." The killings are brutal and unnecessary.

And now, on the 22nd of April, the International Whaling Commission has announced a draft proposal that would legalize commerical whaling for the first time in two decades. The proposal will be voted upon in June. What is even more frightening is that the U.S has voiced support for the dangerous new proposal, claiming that it has potential to rein in the annual killings currently defying the international law. Sounds likely doesn't it? May as well build a fortress out of toothpicks and masking tape. Before the illegalization of whaling, roughly 38,000 whales were killed every year, driving the species near to extinction. This bill, should it pass, would do nothing more to save the whales than to breath the life into an otherwise dying industry.

Doesn't it seem archaic? The whole thing? Doesn't it seem strange that whaling hasn't been stopped completely by now? What with the new discovery of this specie's intelligence?
In 2006, a study conducted by the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (long name) in investigating the brains of these mysterious creatures, found the presence of a spindle cell. Spindle cells, until recently, were thought to only live in humans and great apes, making it possible to experience love, attachment, self-reflection, grief. Furthermore, the cells were found in the same area of the brain (anterior cinfulate cortex and frontoinsular cortex) that regulates functions such as social organisation, empathy, speech, self-reflection. And not only that, whales may have up to three times as many of these cells as humans and have been developing them for 30 million years, nearly twice as long as humans.

It quickly becomes apparent, when you kill a whale it feels it on a physical, mental, social and emotional level. And likewise, its offspring and friends feel the loss.

This bill should not pass. It is a step in the wrong direction. I urge you to tell your friends so as to bring more awareness to this issue. Click on the link below and encourage Prez Obama to vote no on the legalization of commerical banning. Put an End to Commerical Whaling

And if you haven't heard about the Sea Shepherd Conservation, you should check them out. They sail somewhere between activism and piratism.