I had read in the travel books about the "Guiness Book of Records - Highest Bungee in the World" at the Bloukrans Bridge near Tsitsikamma. When we got there and looked at the bridge it was a little more scary. But they do have a 100 percent safety record and there were all sorts of young kids doing it so I thought "Why not, you'll only be here once?"
You get to the jump point in the middle of the bridge by walking out a catwalk (open grid so you can look straight down under your feet) attached under the highway. Can you imagine this being allowed in the US? Once out there there is a whole team of guys bouncing around to loud hip-hop music, giving a slightly intense but also "not to worry" feeling to the staging area: it's a party, what could go wrong? They hitch you up with pads around you ankles and you also have a harness that is a "safety" line. They help you hop up to the edge, put your toes over and count "5,4,3,2,1 Bungee" at which you spread your arms and leap. The initial fall takes about 4 seconds, then you bounce back up a couple times. A guy is lowered on a wynch who attaches a line to your harness and you are pulled up together.
Luckily, I was the second to go so I didn't have much time to think about it. One girl who wasn't sure if she wanted to do it to start with got up to the edge and couldn't jump. The guys were very good about trying to calm her down but it didn't work. Maybe she had heard about the incident at Victoria Falls where the cord broke and a woman fell. She sustained only minor injuries but she had an actual river to fall into. Here the canyon is another hundred or so feet below the full extension of the jump.
Apparently there is a higher bungee now but it is from a building so the Bloukrans jump is now relegated to being the Highest BRIDGE Jump in the World. It was fun to do this one but I'm not going to rush trying to get to the one that's the new record holder!
I seem to be having problems attaching pictures. When we get back I have more bungee pics and a video to show you.
We are so proud of you Papa Steve! That is AWESOME (says Pru, she made me write it in caps). Calder says it seems really cool and he liked how the dudes were just hanging out listening to hip-hop music like it was no big deal.
ReplyDeleteWHAT!!??? YOU JUMPED!? I find this shocking, terrifying, and even more terrifying. This is the actual bridge you jumped off of? cant even WAIT to see more pics/watch the video and hear the story in person. Terrifying. (Did I say that yet?)
ReplyDeleteThat is the bridge. We will save the full photo set and videos until we see you. Unfortunately they use a different format for video there so I can't even upload it onto my computer.
ReplyDelete