Davao Series: My First Zip Line at the Outland Adventure's Xcelerator

I have, admittedly, been denying the fact that I have fear of heights. Acrophobia has manifested itself on me when I was young. I couldn’t get near the railings of our 5th floor room without my tummy turning upside down and my feet feeling the tinge like I’m going to fall anytime soon.

And so, my first true opportunity to overcome this fear is the Asia’s fastest, tallest and longest zip line (at that time – 2012) in Ma-a Diversion Road in Davao City.

This was a part of my home-coming after 11 years, and in observance of my sister’s 10th death anniversary.

When you’re in Davao, you would know that it’s hard to commute going to this part of the city because it’s a diversion road. And I didn’t have a car so the next best option was the cab.

It’s PhP 500 per head for the 2 rides. 3 options to choose from: (1) Sitting (2) Superman and (3) Inverted where you would be harnessed upside down as the position suggests – in the vernacular “nakatiwarik”.

This is my first zip line and boy, was I scared. I kept my fear of heights a secret until I successfully finished the 2 rides.

First, after registering, I was the last for that day, their service vehicle took me farther up to the hills of Ma-a. So it was going to be higher than this, so I thought.

I did the sitting position first. Too bad I didn’t get to take actual photos (I didn’t have a gopro back then). You had to take the ride alone. The guy before me did the superman. I started to shake. We are 200 feet above the ground after all.

I couldn’t let go of the rope that held me in place when I was pushed out into the open. I crossed the massive forest-like scene below me. The wind was chilling, and I shook a little bit more. When I stood at the platform, I could almost faint right there.

But as I enjoyed the beauty of nature, and thinking that I was, after all, going to get out of this alive, I began to relax and enjoy the ride. And only during my 2nd zip with a much shorter line did I realize that it was really THE LONGEST.

After the first ride, we had to hike a little bit to the 2nd platform, where it is faster and a little bit longer.  The facilitator asked how I felt and I answered with a thumbs-up, wordless response.

When we reached the 2nd stage, the guy before me wowed everyone with an inverted position. WTF! I chose the superman position for my 2nd ride, and unlike the zipline in the Baguio tree top adventure, there was no bar to hold on to in the XCELERATOR.

When they positioned me for the Superman ride, I got more scared than when I was harnessed for the sitting position. This is really crazy. When they pushed me, I felt like I was going to crash to the ground because of the downward line. I wanted to scream but I stopped myself because because then I would probably look funny.

In the middle of the 70-120 kph (according to their site: http://davaocitybybattad.blogspot.com/2011/08/outland-adventures-xcelerator-zipline.html) ride, I decided to open my eyes (heck, this is what I paid PhP 500 for, right?) and hang there in awe at the beauty that waited to be appreciated. In hindsight, I wish I had opened my eyes from the time I left the platform. The small river was a stunner. People on a tiny boat below me waved at me and I had become more courageous than ever.

FYI: They didn’t have a camera on standby unlike most zipline places. Make sure you bring your own, and if you want to take a video of the ride, sling your phones or cameras to make sure they don’t fall off.

In the end, it was really mind over matter. Thanks Outland Adventure!

You can contact them at +63 82 224 5855, and check their website (though it’s down as of this time) at outlandadventure.org

You can also try the Repentor, I heard it’s faster than the Xcelerator too.

They closed at 430 pm when we went there, maybe because it was the Holy Wednesday. For more info, call their number and a very attentive Dabawenyo will answer your inquiries =)

This is a must-try !!! Don’t miss it when you visit DAVAO CITY.