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Published: September 25th 2005
We couldn't resist checking out the highest bungy jump in the world at Bloukrans River Bridge (Along the Garden Route in South Africa). The jump is 216 meters which is over 708 feet of free falling. Justin was happy just looking and being the camera man but it was my idea to go out of our way to get to the bridge, so I just had to jump. For the first part of the jump, you free fall for 5 seconds and on the rebound bungy you fall for another 3 seconds (the rebound bungy is higher than the Victoria Falls bungy at 111 meters). And then you bounce up and down a bit more swaying all over the place...It was absolutly nuts, the jump is huuuuugge! You really have no idea how big it is until you watch someone jump and see how long they fall for, you definitely get a good shot of adrenaline out of the deal!
After you sign up and pay for the jump there is no going back. They but you in this harness thing that goes over your shoulders and through your legs, this is for the second safety in case the first bungy connection (the one connected to your feet) breaks or whatever. Next you have to walk across the bridge, the underneath part, which is basically a wire mesh bridge that is a bit unsettling, you just can't look down! Then you get to the bungy platform where they sit you down and tie your legs together and hook up the bungy cord. Then you wiggle your way to the jumping area with the assistance of the workers there. Then the master jumper comes over and does a double check and out of no where two men come up behind you and carry you right to the edge of the bridge and all I could think was holy s***!!!! This is really high!!! Then they do another double check and go are you ready??? 5,4,3,2,1, bungy!! And away you go. The feeling in my stomach was unbelievable and I fell for so long that I couldn't scream anymore! I think the scariest part was dangling by the bungy waiting for one of the workers to come and pull me back up to the bridge. They did this by using my body harness so i could sit up for most of the way back up to the bridge. And that's it...it was very cool and a huge rush! (www.faceadrenalin.com)
That's the biggest excitement we've had lately. After doing the bungy we drove back to Capetown and were on our way to Bangkok, Thailand (which is where we are now). The man sitting next to us on our flight from Dubai to Bangkok was from Saudi Arabia and he was on his way to visit his second wife (his first wife lives in Saudi Arabia but can no longer provide for him because half her body is paralyzed). He has five children with his first wife and two with his second. So that was quite an interesting conversation we had with him. Things are very very different over there!
Bangkok is something else...it's soo different than anywhere we've been. The smells you get walking down the street are very very interesting, some are great others make you almost gag..but it's all part of the experience. There are street vendors everywhere. We haven't been daring enough to try the food from the vendors but we hear it is quite good. Many of the vendors have piles of meat lying on their little cart and other meat hanging from a pole and what looks like dirty water that they cook it in, but the end product usually looks pretty good. Anyways, its really dirty here and there are people everywhere and they drive like crazy. We seriously thought our lives were in danger when took a cab ride this afternoon, you just sort of look the other way and pray you get there in one piece! 😉 Many people also wear a mask to reduce the pollution they breath in. They also worship their King a lot and are very proud of their anthem. We went to a movie and before the movie started there was a clip that sang the national anthem and said please take time and pay respect to the king and the entire movie theatre stood up while the anthem was played. Justin and I just kind of stood there going, ok, this is kinda weird, not really sure what to do. There are also huge pictures of the King and his entire family posted on the streets in this certain area. But it is really cool being here and seeing how different life is over here. We are enjoying it but cannot wait to get out to the beaches because it is sweltering hot and humid here (but we have a/c, so it's not so bad...and a tv..with HBO!)
Oh yeah, and it is sooo cheap here! Our hotel is $20USD/night total and it is a decent place (called Sena Place Hotel). For both us of to go to the movie and get popcorn and pop it was only $USD. You can get a good meal for about 1-2 USD. It's just nuts and i guess the islands are even cheaper. We're trying to revive our budget here...I think it might just work.
I think that's about it for now. We had an awesome time in South Africa and met a bunch of cool people. It felt like we had a home for about a week because we got to know everyone at the hostel we stayed at, so it was a lot of fun.
Hope all is well with everyone and we'd love to hear from you. We'll be in the islands for a couple of weeks now...We're not sure on the internet status out there, so we might not be in touch until we get back to Bangkok.
Take Care,
Beth and Justin
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Nancy
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Wow!
Wow! Bungee jumping...not to mention at the highest point possible. You are something else Beth! When do we get to see some more pictures? Greece...South Africa...Bungee...Thailand! I can't wait to see those pictures too! Enjoy the next phase of your trip!