We Tried the Hanging Bridges in the Rainforest in Costa Rica

We took on the Villa Lapas Skyway hanging bridges tour in Costa Rica. Some of us liked it more than others.

Colleen doesn't like this. Not one bit.

And she is typically the brave and adventurous one in this household.

We are on a swaying bridge in a rainforest in Costa Rica, and she wants to get off as soon as possible. 

The bridge, constructed with some sort of wire (is that chicken wire?) and plastic mesh, along with sturdy steel cable supports, did look a little frayed (I mean, I think that is rusted chicken wire in some spots!).

We had enjoyed ziplining in Costa Rica during a previous cruise. This time, on our port day during our cruise on Celebrity Cruises' Infinity, we would give the hanging bridges of Costa Rica a try. This was a fantastic way to get back out to the rainforest to explore all the creatures and plants we loved the first time.

From our port area in Puntarenas, we took a tour that brought us into a nature reserve area under the rainforest canopy near the Carara National Park. Puntarenas is a port village on the western, or Pacific Ocean, side of tiny Costa Rica. This was a new region to explore because we had visited Puerto Limon on the Caribbean Sea side on our previous stop to the country.

This time, Colleen, who does all the excursion planning, went against her biggest fears and instincts and took one for the team so we could try the bridges. She organized the tour for our group, and she always is up for a little challenge despite her phobias. I wish I was that tough. If I don't like something, I simply won't do it. Is that scared? Practical? Selfish, maybe?

Anyways, we had a pleasant hike, working up quite a sweat as we ventured into forest to complete the Villa Lapas Skyway trail. We explained to Ryan and Kelly, who joined us on the tour and had never been to Costa Rica, how awesome this was going to be. "You're going to see howler monkeys, spiders, colorful tree frogs, sloths," we told them, fondly remembering our prior trip to the land of pura vida. 

Well, we saw a lot of leaf cutter ants at work. I mean hundreds of thousands of them marching in organized columns carrying out their duties. That was cool.

We saw a squirrel of some sort (Actually, only I did). Hmmm. Not bad.

We saw three chestnut-mandibled toucans. But no "Fruit Loop" toucans. Dang!

And a bunch of colorful flowers and plants.

We did not see any of the other animals I had promised. Double dang! These tours are crowded, and the commotion in the forest keeps the creatures away, I am told. 

Colleen really loved crossing the bridge. (Not really.)

We crossed a total of four hanging bridges during our two-hour hike. The spans extended up to 330 feet long and looked down at the forest floor up to 200 feet down. It was an interesting experience, with cool views of the trees and forest canopy from the bridges that are strung up between the trees and hillside paths. The trails are well maintained and easy to navigate.

Make sure to bring insect spray because mosquitoes can be a problem (they were fairly tame during our visit in September). Also, it is hot and humid in the jungle, so bring plenty of water to sip throughout the day. Maybe a few snacks, too.

The spans extended up to 330 feet long and looked down at the forest floor up to 200 feet down.

The bridges can hold up to 20 visitors, and we had to hold the handrails while crossing because they get a little bouncy as people stride across.

I stopped midway to take pics and video from varying angles on a couple of the walkways, but Colleen wasn't having any of that.

"See you on the other side," she said as she swiftly scurried across one particularly long bridge on which many others also had stopped for pictures. Standing in line waiting to shuffle slowly across apparently was not an option for Colleen, who didn't care who she photobombed as she (politely) barged past. 

Thanks for reading,

JR