From the hotel we drove through the most crazy winding roads to the Toro Verde Adventure Park where John “HAD” to ride THE BEAST. The Beast is #3 in length and height of Zip-Lines around the world.
After his safe return (Thank Goodness) we left for the Arecibo Observatory. We spent a few more hours in search of the place than we anticipated but it was well worth the drive. Arecibo Observatory is home of the World’s largest single-dish Radio Telescope built by William Gordon, a professor at Cornell University in 1963. This telescope was part of the film “Contact” (with Jodie Foster) and also “Golden Eye” (a James Bond movie).
Once you arrive there is a film. We learned it was originally built to address issues about the Ionisphere that the US Gov’t had. They were having problems with long range communication. Today it has been passed down to the National Science Foundation who uses it to research many things. The dish is 1000 feet in diameter and the telescope is held up by 3 concrete towers. Pictures just don’t do it justice. It is HUGE! When they have to clear the dish of branches or other things that get blown into it they have to wear special shoes that displaces their weight evenly on the dish. There is a catwalk used to get from the telescope to the research/electronics building.
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