Flying through the Trees

On Friday morning I woke up, grabbed a coconut, and went back into bed to check my email. I changed my gchat status to "in bed with a coconut." My mother IMed me: "Are you sick?!" No, of course not, why? "Because your status says you are in bed." It was seven thirty in the morning, being in bed is not unusual at that time. Though at the time I felt right as rain, my mom must have some crazy international psychic capabilities. By noon, I was feeling under the weather. By two, my head hurt, I had the chills, and my body was all achy. I managed to make my way through work and my pre-scheduled foot massage (a post in itself) but as soon as I got home I holed up in my bedroom with season one of Arrested Development and went to sleep before ten.

Getting sick could not have worse timing, as I had been planning on spending the next day ziplining with a couple I had met playing ultimate frisbee and a Thai friend of theirs. I was determined to wake up feeling completely normal-- and, when I woke up at six this morning, I did! Whatever fever I may have had seemed to have broken, which was quite a relief because I had been looking forward to ziplining for the past two weeks.


We reached Chonburi and the Khao Kheow Open Zoo at around 9:30, ample time to explore a bit before our 10:30 reservation with Flight of the Gibbon. The ziplining company had their offices in the zoo (which we were allowed to visit for free) and it was only a short 15 minute ride up into the mountains to the trailhead for the ziplining excursion. We were put in a group of 9 people-- which included an awesome 6-year-old Maldivian-Australian who was completely fearless, always wanting to go first or faster and who loved the attention we lavished upon her. The trip starts off with a fairly low and short zipline. I believe this is so that you can test it out... you can only turn back after the little one. If you are petrified up at the top it doesn't matter. You are stuck there. After that first one, we climbed up a spiral staircase high up into the trees to attempt a larger, faster zipline. For the next three-odd hours we sailed through the jungle. Really, the jungle is the star of the show here. I was in awe of the beautiful trees and stunning views. I saw some dazzling butterflies, but no other wildlife aside from some awesome hornbills. I suppose the screaming and laughter in the trees keeps them away. I had a great time flying around... until my achiness came back mid-adventure. Despite the fact that I probably should have been resting at home, I stand by my decision to go. I had a blast, and, thanks to our Thai friend, got a huge discount on the tour. It was only 1,500 THB (around $47) rather than 2,500 THB ($80).

Following a lunch provided by the Flight of the Gibbon, we spent the next hour or so exploring the zoo. I was feeling a lot better thanks to a few helpings of fruit and some medicine from a fellow zipliner so I was able to enjoy myself. I have never been so close to zoo animals before. A rhino was five inches from me, separated by some wooden guardrails. We could just as easily reach out and touch the giraffes. Also, visitors were encouraged to purchase vegetables at stands to feed to the animals. The hippos were pros at opening their mouths wide for cucumbers (but not so good at closing quickly to catch them). At one point, a zookeeper plopped a racoon-sized creature into my friends arms. When I was holding him we asked what it was. "Little bear." Oh. He certainly was snuggly. The zoo also had what was probably the best variety of big cats that I've ever seen. It was great fun to watch them feed tigers via a giant fishing pole.



I'm planning on spending tomorrow taking it easy... the last thing I need is to be under the weather during the work week. I'm just happy that it doesn't seem at all digestion related. Some of my friends have had nasty issues from eating food that wasn't clean. I know it seems from my blog posts that I never work and only play, but believe me, I do work! This week has been particularly exciting as I have been able to meet the six 2.5 year olds that I'll be working with this year. I've also been able to refine some of my teaching techniques through teaching short English blocks to the students in our Thai preschool. It's great to feel like we are really heading out of summer and gearing up for the new school year. I even have my classroom (mostly) set up! I won't have students until September 1st, so there is still a bit more time to fully prepare.

Of course, I posted all my pics from my trip today on flickr. Please go check them out!