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Bloukrans, South Africa
710 Feet of Air! Holy Shit!
Lab2004-08-12 09:48:55
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The world's highest bungy jump beckoned my name from the instant I heard about its towering height, 216 meters (710 feet). It's location was far from close to anywhere, but the distance would not stop me from conquering the crown jewel of an adrenaline junkie's resume. This past January my two friends and I set out to face adrenaline and conquer all our biggest fears; taking the ultimate leap of faith off the Bloukrans River Bridge in the heart of South Africa's beautiful garden route.
I had first heard about the Bloukrans jump a year earlier when I was traveling in New Zealand doing death defying stunts almost daily, such as sky diving, ice climbing, abseiling and of course bungy jumping. New Zealand is home to some of the most beautiful and highest jumps in the world. Queenstown has made its reputation as the adrenaline capital of the world based on its plethora of amazing jumps. It was at Queenstown's most famous jump, the 134 meter (440 foot) levitating monster called the Nevis that I first was notified of the Bloukrans bungy by a fellow adventure seeker. After the sheer ecstasy of the Nevis, I knew it wouldn't be long before I would be in South Africa to try my luck at the Bloukrans Bridge.
My friends and I set out on a journey that took us through seven African countries, many wild animal encounters and tons of wonderful people. Finally, we left Jeffrey's Bay heading west along the southern tip of South Africa on the backpacker friendly Baz Bus toward Cape Town to stop at a small resort town called Plettenburg Bay. This would be the starting point to our jump location. After several hours in the bus we were approached the actual bridge that we would be the jump. The bus stopped on top of it to show all the people who weren't going to be jumping what they were missing. Seeing the height of the bridge beforehand did not ease our minds, in fact it got our adrenaline and our fear pumping harder than ever.
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See photographs from:
South Africa Gallery
