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Walking on Air
Guest Traveler: Petite Gaces
Jump?!, I yelped at Jerome, our tour guide. He was pointing at the open space that yawned before me. It was a good 125 feet between the Access Deck, where we were standing, and the First Deck, where we were to start the Canopy Walk. It was also 80 feet (10 storeys!) above a very solid forest floor.
When we came to Cagayan de Oro for a weekend adventure, I knew it involved walking on 5 hanging bridges spanning 6 giant primordial trees, 60 to a 100 feet above ground. Nobody told me anything about jumping down from one of them, tied to nothing but a zip line.
Jerome patiently explained to me that the carabs, (specialized metal clips) that tied the harness I was wearing to the zip line, could support weight up to 700 kilos. The zip line itself could support up to 900 kilos. My 40 kilos, he said, would be nothing. Right, I thought, easy for him to say that. They were all I had.
Tanya was waving and laughing at me from the First Deck. Just a few minutes earlier I had laughed at her as she flung across the lush foliage, swinging gently on a leather and tarp harness. Now I was silent, and seriously thinking about heading back to the air-conditioned van from where I could contemplate about life in comfort.
THE "TRIAL"
After a few more whispered arguments with Jerome about not thinking twice when flying in an airplane 30,000 feet above ground and balking at a mere 80-foot jump, I finally gave in. I re-checked all the lines that attached me to safety (I hoped) for the nth time, closed my eyes, and stepped off the Access Deck.
And screamed.
I screamed as I zipped by the dark-green leaves of smaller trees, all the way down to the First Deck. I was swinging from a cord not more two inches thick, with absolutely nothing but air beneath my feet!
I could hear myself squeal like a little piglet about to be slaughtered for a fiesta celebration. I could also vaguely hear the rest of my companions laughing at me. Laughing! The nerve! Then something clicked in my brain as I realized I was not falling, or losing consciousness, or dying of fright. Hey, this is actually fun, I thought. Cool!
I began to enjoy the feeling of being suspended between heaven and earth (okey, between the zip line and the forest floor). I didn't stop screaming, however. But this time, it was not out of fear, but the sheer pleasure of venting the pent-up tension stored in my body from long months of the unrelenting urban rat race that is my daily life.
By the time I got to the First Deck, I was already hoarse. I felt the firm wooden flooring beneath my feet, and hugged the large primeval tree in the desire to hold on to something solid and stable.
After a while, I had to peel myself off the tree trunk to listen to Francis, another guide, who would go with us all the way to the Main Deck. He instructed us on how to walk (place one foot in front of the other), how to keep our balance (make sure each foot is approximately in the center of the aluminum rails, and hold on to the rail guards), and how to transfer from one hanging bridge to the next (transfer one carab first, then the other). I nodded bravely, but couldn't help asking, "What if I get stuck somewhere?"
Francis grinned. "Then we will rescue you", he said simply. With that, The Walk began.
One foot in front of the other. Center of the aluminum rail. Hold the rail guard. One foot…
"Look, Petite, isn't this beautiful?"
I was concentrating so hard on getting to the Second Deck that I didn't realize I wasn't thinking of anything else, or looking around, until I heard Tanya call out from ahead of me. I paused, and very, very slowly turned my head to the left.
Oh wow.
THE REWARD
Far beneath us lay a deep gorge, its crevices in shadow, its peaks in varying shades of rich green. Further on, the wide expanse of the rugged fields of Cagayan de Oro stretched all the way toward the distant dark-blue mountains. Looking up, I saw a satin-smooth soft-blue sky flecked with white cotton-candy clouds. And right under and around me, the rainforest was alive with butterflies, bugs, multicolored flowers, and green leaves swinging in the breeze. Small birds darted from tree to tree.
And the air! It was so pure, so sweet, and so clean. I inhaled in large, greedy gulps, filling my carbon-monoxide-drowned lungs with pure oxygen. Ah, bliss.
We walked on from one bridge to the next. I stopped reciting my mantra of "one foot…center…hold…" and instead took time to look around. And there it dawned on me that maybe this was the real point of the whole exercise.
Yes, a large part of it was adventure. But part of it was also appreciating the beauty and vibrant aliveness of the lush, unspoiled tropical rainforest. And, while walking slowly between treetops almost 100 feet off the ground, I realized how wrong it would have been for me to come here and try to "conquer nature". There was nothing to conquer there -- except myself, and my own fears.
Pretty soon, we were at the Main Deck. Francis told us that we could have our lunch there before heading back to the Access Deck. Never had a meal of corned beef sandwich and an orange taste so good!
After lunch, Tanya and I decided to stay a bit longer at the Main Deck. I lay down on my back to stare at the powder-blue sky. Bits of warm sunlight broke through a canopy of leaves and danced on my face, but I didn't mind. Closing my eyes, I felt the gentle breeze move through the trees. I felt it move like soft ripples around me. I sighed in contentment. This was certainly worth jumping off a tree, I thought. Yes…definitely worth the jump…
Whenever she has free time (rarely now), Petite Gaces, reads books and practices aikido. These diversions, she says, keep her sane while working with a team of New Media people whose sense of humor border on the strange and the surreal.
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