Monkeying Around at GoApe!

When I was invited to visit GoApe at A.W Stanley Park in New Britain, CT I was very excited. First, I love to be adventurous. Secondly, I love to try new things, especially outdoors. Bring it!

GoApe is a multi-award winning and original forest adventure set high up in the canopy. We enjoyed two to three hours in the trees taking on zip lines, Tarzan swings, rope ladders and a variety of obstacles and crossings. Kids must be 10 or older to climb and be accompanied by an adult. 

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 I brought along by best friends daughter Courtney who just turned 14 years old. Perfect activity to celebrate! When I booked, I was told to arrive a few minutes early to sign a waiver and get our harnesses fitted. By the way, you book right online so do not have to worry about paying when you arrive. When we arrived we were greeted by very helpful and energetic staff that is all about fun. Well, and safety of course! But fun for sure! Once we were signed up, we were escorted through the woods to the first course. Along our walk we could see the zip lines that went across the pond and knew we were in for a day of fun!

Once we got to the first course, our guide Andy showed us the safety harnesses and how to properly put them on. He went into detail about each clip on our harness and how important it is to always be attached to the trees. We practiced putting our clips on the cables which wrapped around the trees and one by one taking them off and clipping them onto our pulley which is the equipment that makes you go on the cable and keeps you in the air if you fall.

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Once we got the hang of it, we did our first ride on a zip line. I believe it might have been 20 feet from the ground. More of just a nice practice line. We were instructed on how to land safety. Not as easy as it looks especially when you twist and end up going backward which was my experience several times! Once we completed the first course, we were invited to move onto the 2nd course independently. Staff toured the area below us constantly making sure we were clipped properly and encouraging us on!  We climbed up a rope ladder and latched on and off the trees and cables through the trees. It was a bit scary at first as you are high up, but I quickly realized that each course gets higher and a bit more challenging. After the 2nd course, we were comfortable with our harness and maneuvering in the trees safely. This picture below was our toughest challenge with rings we had to fit our feet in, in order to get across to the next tree. Ah!!!! Courtney did it like a champ!

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At the 5th course, the last obstacle is a 900 foot zip line ride. Thrilling!

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Once our feet were back on the ground, we were greeted by staff once again and presented with completion certificates. Each staff member was truly concerned with making sure we had a great time and were extremely helpful.  

What a great day to be playing in the trees!

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If you are looking for some adventure, check out GoApe at http://goape.com/ . They have several locations across the U.S.  

Special thanks to GoApe for an adventurous summer day in the trees!