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BUNJEE JUMPING ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFRICA
Bungee
Jumping in South Africa: For most people, looking over
the edge of a 216m bridge might be quite enough of a
thrill. For others though, throwing themselves off the
bridge is a far better pastime. Known as bungee jumping,
willing participants attach a special cord to their
ankles and after a fair amount of persuasion and at
least 2 or 3 “no, I cant do it” remarks, they throw
themselves into thin air and hurtle down to the ground
below. Just in time, the stretchy bungee cord pulls
tight and the jump is complete.
Bungee jumping began ages ago as a tribal ritual for
boys to enter manhood. Fresh, stretchable vines were
attached to their ankles and tied to two bamboo towers.
Divers were required to jump from as high as possible
and stop as close to the ground as possible to prove the
extent of their manhood. Fortunately today, bungee
jumping has evolved quite a bit and is now performed
with only highly specialized equipment. Bungee jumping
in South Africa has earned a global reputation for its
claim to having the highest commercial bungee jump in
the world. Positioned along the gorgeous Garden Route,
the Bloukrans Bungee Jump will send you plummeting 216m,
headfirst, towards the bottom. Because of the extreme
height of this bungee jump, a full body harness is used,
instead of the traditional ankle harness. The harness,
combined with a technique called ‘pendulum bungee
technology’, makes for a very comfortable jump -
considering the fact that you’re jumping off a 216m high
bridge!
Bungee jumping in South Africa isn’t limited to the
Bloukrans jump. 35 Kilometers outside of Mossel Bay
along the N2 highway, is the old Gouritz bridge which
was decommissioned for public transport a number of
years ago. The first commercial bungee jump in South
Africa, the Gouritz bridge is a 65m jump - ideal for
beginners or first-timers. Because of the relatively low
height of this jump, tandem jumps are possible. The
tandem jump is also good for the slightly less
adventurous due to the fact that you don’t go off the
bridge head-first, but rather feet first which is
naturally far less daunting.
Whats a Bridge Swing? Well, if you fancy yourself as
generally an adventurous person, but you simply can’t
get your head around jumping off a 65m bridge
head-first, then why not try bungee jumping’s little,
slightly less scary brother, the Bridge Swing. A safety
harness is attached to your waist and a specialized rope
is attached to a second bridge, 20 or 30m away from you.
As you jump, the rope quickly pulls taught and you swing
forwards and rather rapidly over the ground a few meters
below. Granted, you’re still jumping off a bridge into
seeming oblivion, so bridge swinging will still take
some guts, but it’s not quite as scary as bungee
jumping.
Because of the inherent danger of bungee jumping and its
unique requirements in terms of location, there aren’t
many commercial bungee jumps in South Africa. However
the quality of the bungee jumps that South Africa does
have to offer, more than make up for its lack in
quantity. So if you’re up for the extreme adrenaline
rush of a lifetime, then make a plan to try South
Africa’s world class bungee jumping.
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