Climbing the Strangler Fig

Hola everyone,
We had heard rumors of a secret...magical fig tree (Ficus aurea http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ploct99.htm) that was perfect for climbing. We made our mission to find it. Sage and a friend from school found it after school one day and Sage said she would take us there. Its located near the CEC and the whole family went to see it. Sunday was a misty foggy day (this is the cloud forest after all) but we were able to find it after some bushwhacking. I've put in some video of the climb but its hard to see just how high the tree is. Not only is it several hundred feet tall but it is on a steep mountain side! The tree looks like its just not natural.... something out of Harry Potter. The strangler fig killed the original tree and all that remains are the roots and branches of the fig. The original tree died, rotted away and provides the tunnel through which you climb. There are several spots along the tunnel where you can sit outside the tree. We pounded around with sticks to get the snakes to move out and had to be careful where we found handholds....look before you grab....that might be a snake and not a vine. Sage made it up to a 'lookout' spot....So that red/blue blur popping out of the tree 30 meters up in the mist... is Sage. I didn't go that far....I'm not competing for a Darwin Award. Dad said he'd like grandkids someday. Luckily for us, Dad couldn't fit through the upper tunnel. It was slippery and foggy....maybe some other day.