Plettenberg Bay Day 2

From Bungy

We left the hostel at 8:30 to make sure we got to the Bloukrans bridge before it got busy. At that point the girls still hadn't all decided whether they were doing it or not but once we got there and they had a couple minutes, all of them decided they would jump besides Lexie. They suited us up and a guide walked us on the trail to the bridge. To get to the middle of the bridge, we walked along a catwalk which let you know just how high up you really were with its wire bottom. We arrived on the jump platform and they began to play music and get me ready to jump. One of the guys wrapped a pad tightly around my knees and said "don't worry, it can hold 3 tons."

From Bungy

They started playing techno music which really got you pumped up and ready to jump if you were scared, but jumping at 709 feet is still nothing compared to 14,000 feet from a plane. Maybe I have too much trust in the equipment but skydiving and bungy jumping don't really scare me, so as the girls were almost jumping out of their pants, I was just excited. The guy tied the bungy cord around the knee pad, and then helped me hop to the edge.

From Bungy

They told us that we're supposed to jump like we're doing a belly flop and keep our chin up. As my feet dangled over the edge, they yelled, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bungy!" and flung me off the bridge. The rush of having seemingly nothing above or below you as you fly through the air was a thrill unmatched even by skydiving. It is a much shorter thrill, but definitely an intense one. I don't know if it was the fact that this was the highest bungy or if the movies just make it seem different but there is no bouncing feeling. It feels more like swinging.

From Bungy

After a few swings I was dangling upside down for about 30 seconds before the guy repelled down to flip me rightside up and guide me to the top. The upside down part was the only uncomfortable part since it put a lot of pressure on my sinuses but it didn't ever feel like I was slipping or hurt my legs at all. All the girls went and had a great time and we walked back to meet up with Lexie and see the pictures and video. We decided to just get pictures since the video was really short and didn't even film the entire bungee jump or even coming back up.

From Plettenberg Bay

After Bungy jumping, we needed some food so we headed to Tsitsikamma National Park to eat at the restaurant overlooking the Storms River mouth into the Indian Ocean. The view was beautiful and we had just enough time to hike to the Storms River bridge before ziplining at 2pm. It was about a 15-minute hike and the bridge was well worth it. We made it to the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tours but the only reservation they had down was 5 for George so they sent us to the other zipline over the waterfalls. Our driver Graham called Leroy the hostel owner who made reservations and we figured out that he thought everyone in our group was doing it and had gotten confused this morning and thought I was George (I was henceforth known as George on the trip).

Lindsay and I suited up for the second time that day and headed out in a very large truck to the forest. Our group was 2 other men from America but one had grown up in South Africa. It's good we had a fun group because we were stuck behind a huge group of tourists (after 2 weeks and a house in Cape Town I decided I'm no longer a tourist). The ziplining was really fun and a good relaxing but still exhilerating 3 hours after a morning of adrenaline. We ziplined from platform to platform the highest one being 30 meters above the ground and to the right you can see me dangling 50 meters above the ground.

Our big adventure day took all my energy and when we got back to the hostel I took a long nap. We ordered pizza and watched Max Payne, a very bad movie and then went to bed since at 7:30am we'd be walking cheetahs.