Park offers extreme experiences for guests

Ana Camacho briefly took on the role of chuting star in northern Peru. The Kansas City, Missouri, travel agent – in northern Peru recently on a tour hosted by Peruvian tourist board PromPeru – joined fellow tour members in visiting the Donce Extremo adventure park, found near the city of Chachapoyas.

Peruvian tourism authorities are inviting adventure-seeking and nature-loving tourists to visit northern Peru, a region that among other things is home to towering Mt. Huascaran, at 6,768 meters the highest mountain in Peru.

Northern Peru’s lofty mountains make it ideal for adventure tourism but tourism officials concede it tends to be overshadowed by other parts of the country, particularly the region Machu Picchu and Cusco are in.

Donce Extremo offers the likes of rappelling, suspension bridges, and a twin zip line, which Camacho and fellow group member Vincent Wong of Medellin-based VYVEM Colombia decided to undertake together. The two settled on a friendly bet, with Wong having to buy Camacho a soda if she completed the 300-meter-long zip line – which has small parachutes attached to users’ harnesses, apparently to stabilize their journeys – first and she having to buy him a beer if he arrived before her. 

The duo was sent off by park staff simultaneously. Camacho was indeed first in, leaving Wong on the hook when it came to picking up the tab for her next soda.

Camacho said after her lofty but safe journey that the experience was “very fun, very thrilling, ” even though she initially was “praying I wouldn’t hit anything,” a fear that proved unfounded.

Meanwhile, the good-natured Wong wasn’t bitter at his fellow adventurer after being left in the runner-up role. “We’re still friends,” he reassured.