Day 2 – “Ziplining” (and playing Tarzan) in the Antiguan Rainforest

Antiguans are usually very nice to tourists and so I was surprised to find a group who enjoy throwing tourists from the tops of trees....

I arrived at the tourist torture trap...sorry I mean Rainforest Canopy Tours and all I heard from the trees were scream and shrieks.

The torture started as I got strapped into my waist harness so securely I started to doubt whether I would ever have children. Then when I saw that the first tree was 100 feet up from the valley floor I asked them to tighten the harness even more!

I was hooked on to the two wire ziplines and I did my first zip like a true man. In other words after being pushed and with my eyes closed!

I then “zipped” through the jungle on 9 different ziplines of varying lengths culminating in the “screamer”. This is the granddaddy of all ziplines weighing in at a whopping 328 feet in length and 300 feet in height. Being a seasoned “zipper” by now I flew down it with the trees whizzing past and below me. It was a great feeling. I felt like Tarzan...but without the skimpy loin cloth (luckily for the people below).

My experience didn’t end there as I became one of the first people to take part in their new “fan drop”. Here you have to step off a cliff with nothing more than a wire and an oversized desk fan to stop you falling to the valley below! Apparently it’s what stunt men use to jump off buildings as it gives a realistic rate of descent. To continue the acting theme I managed easily carry off a very realistic performance of someone being petrified!

***Charles Duncombe, is an Antigua holidays director at UK travel company www.holidaysplease.co.uk  He recently visited Antigua and soon found how much more the island has to offer than just great beaches. This is part one of a 6-part series about his many excursions on the island. See you next time as Charles flies over the Montserrat volcano!