Good morning friendsâŚWow weâre in Antigua! đ âď¸ Â
Well the trip is still going ahead (i knew they wouldnât cancel this one) but letâs remind ourselves what weâre doing today?! Â
Antigua Zip Line Canopy Adventure:
Hear the distant sound of running water, exotic chirps and the whistling of birds flying over the canopy. This is an adventure playground with a difference. It all takes place 50 to 300 feet off the ground in Antiguaâs rainforest canopy, including a series of 12 zip-lines – some stretching lengths of over 300 feet, a leap of faith, 3 aerial walkways and a suspension bridge. Not forgetting the hidden tree house where the world seems to stand still.
This thrilling journey includes 26 elements and 9 typical challenge course features, with water stations along the way. This really is an adventure in the sun! Donât worry, youâre in safe hands, all the rangers here are trained to world challenge course standards and before you set off in your harness youâll have a full safety briefing, to learn all about the equipment.
On the dock…
Yay weâre back in Antigua! If you remember the last time (our first time here) we did horse riding across the beach (click here for the post). We love that all of the assistance people on the dock wear bright yellow t-shirts too. After following our assistance person to the taxi place we got in a nice minibus that took us to the deadly zip lines. đ¨
The safety harness…
Our small group went inside and had a short safety briefing and as they know iâm registered blind i got my own assistant. They let me hold the harness and the huge carabiners. I started to feel a little better after holding the super heavy duty harness. The assistant strapped it on really tight and i was ready. I checked that Sarah was still next to me and had everything sorted too. Sarah often gets neglected as the people see that iâm the blind one and then leave Sarah to carry on without helpâŚBut Sarah is also registered blind but not quite as severely as me (totally different eye problems).Â
The ranger dude…
Walking out and onto the start of the wooden bridge with thousands of steps leading up and through the rain forest and above the canopy Sarah and i was greeted by the amazing ranger guide (forgot his name unfortunately). He was simply fantastic and guided me up every step by calling out when a step was coming etc. He said âIâll clip onto the cable behind you and fly down with youâ i said âThanks as i wonât be able to see the end and when i need to brake, iâll just fly straight into the tree at the end like a cartoon characterâ.
Here goes…
He used really clear instructions and before long i was lifting my feet up and landing on the platform at the other end. âWow that was coolâ i said whilst laughing and trying to find the rail to lean against. I wonder where Sarah isâŚSarah was last and all on her own to figure out how to do it all, she of course managed it somehow! đ The ranger asked if we were both ok and if we enjoyed the little zip line to start with.
I said âLittle one? Yeah it was amazing, so is there longer and higher ones?â âOh yes the longest one is called the screamer and iâll let you know when we get there as it takes a video of you tooâ.Â
I remember wishing i had a camera up here as it was beautiful, and i still canât believe we only had 2 photos and 1 video of the dayâŚBut thatâs better than nothing. 𤣠Â
We had much more fun on the longer zip lines, climbing higher and higher steps with the guide passing us cups of water at each water station, wow i needed that.Â
And then…
We finally arrived at âThe ScreamerââŚIt’s the highest, fastest and longest zip-line in this place. It stretches 328 feet across a ravine and is 350 feet above the rain forest floor.
I stepped slowly to the edge of the platform, my heart was trying to pound its way out of my chestâŚEven though iâm on beta blockers and my heart rate cannot go over 120bpm no matter how hard i try. I reached above my head and clipped my carabiner onto the cable and took a deep breath as I sat my whole weight into my harness. âAre you ready to make some noise?â the ranger dude behind me said âOh yeahâ and we stepped of the incredibly high platform…
Yay!! Weâve done it!! Sarah flew down too and even did a couple of spins (nobody likes a show off, lol) we both laughed lots and with just a couple of zip lines left we could safely say âThe Blind Sightseersâ have conquered another challenge! đŞđź  đ Â
 The cafe, bar and gift shop…
Finishing the last zip line and then walking across rope bridges we ended up in the gift shop. I thanked the ranger profusely as he left to guide another group.Â
âWow it would be fantastic if we could buy something from here to remind us of this monumental day. Sarah found a beautiful Antigua bauble for our Christmas tree and she bought a really cool t-shirt (Sarah modelling it below) that says âFor a good attitude, change your latitudeâ.
Returning to the dock…
We had a quiet ride back as we both were reflecting on managing zip lining as blindies and the relief that i didnât die today. đ The minibus pulled in and we started walking back towards the ship for our iced coffee refresh when…
Sarah said âMy hatâ âWhat do you men?â i said âIâve lost my hat?!â âWhat your really cool one that youâve had for yearsâ âYes that one, i think iâve left it at the zip lining place or on the minibus. I lost my sunglasses yesterday and now my hat todayâ. We walked back to the taxi rank and asked the man who then phoned one of his drivers. About half an hour later another minibus arrived with the second group from our tour and the driver had Sarahâs hat! Sarah must have left it in the cafe after all of the excitement! Phew! đ Â
Back on the ship…
“Aww now thatâs a  nice cold coffeeâ i said whilst sitting back in the lovely big arm chair in the coffee place âI canât believe weâve done it, a blind man (and woman) have done zip lining!â âI knew we would do it and i still get to keep one of my fave hatsâ. đ Â
Weâve booked a photo session tomorrow like the one we had last year when we were at âOlympiaâ, itâs a colour shoot this time instead of black and white. And of course as itâs another lovely new island we have another shore excursion booked too.Â
Did you enjoy your time in Antigua? Have you ever done zip lining before?
To be continued…Â Â
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