The Gibbon Experience - probably the most mixed experience we've had on this trip. It's only been in operation about a year, and the vision behind it is brilliant. Take a forest preserve in the middle of nowhere that's home to an endangered species of monkey. Build a few treehouses 40 meters up in the canopy of the forest, and connect them all with a series of zip lines - steel cables that you attach yourself to and whiz over valleys. The longest zip line was 450 meters long, and 200 meters high. What a thrill to ride. The achievement of what's been created is outstanding.

This project has the potential to become a leading example of how eco-tourism should work, but they have a few kinks to work out. The people we met who were managing the operation were incompetent, and the staff badly trained amateurs. When you're paying $130US a night (huge in a country where you can travel for $10US a day) you have certain expectations, like first aid kits being stocked with supplies, a food box that doesn't have rotten supplies, water that doesn't run out twice during your stay, guides who don't panic when evacuating you in the middle of the night during a rainstorm. Our treehouse didn't have a fire extinguisher, and we spent 3 days telling the staff it was missing, and they kept arguing with us that it was there, but they never came by to actually check it out themselves. As we left they confirmed what we had been telling them all along - our tree house had no fire extinguisher. The basic expectation was that it would be a safe experience, and it was not.

Still, what an amazing place to spend a couple of nights, issues notwithstanding. Photos will be posted soon, and more updates to follow.