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Published: September 19th 2008
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Harness on!
How did I end up going first? So I left the most extreme adventure for last...bungee jump! Holy s---!
I went with another couple travelers from my hostel...an art student from New York and her friend from South Africa who I had actually already befriended a couple weeks back in Parque Tayrona and Cartagena. It was her last day of her 6 month trip and their last day traveling together after being together for a couple of the last few months...so I convinced them to come with me as a last "hurah!" He had already done a jump before in South Africa...a crazy height of 100m...this one in San Gil is a baby jump compared to that one...it is only off of a 25 m bridge. Perfect for a beginner like me!
So off we went, 10 am on a Monday morning...great way to wake up and start the week off right. We showed up in a taxi to the bridge where the bungee instructors were already set up and waiting for us. I volunteered to jump first out of the three of us. On with the harness and helmet, but don´t forget to weigh me first and then have me sign my life away...no, you are NOT
liable if anything goes wrong!
After the harness was on, the guy literally just led me over to the edge of the bridge and told me to climb over the guard rail onto a metal stand that just barely stuck out over the edge of the bridge...it wasn´t till that moment that I felt nervous and startd to shake a little...heart racing. There I was, standing on a simple metal stand off of a 25 m bridge looking out over a very rapid river below. I forced myself to not think about it and just do it! So they counted 1-2-3 and I jumped right on 3! Head first, arms and legs extended, I am sure I was screaming but don´t remember...my eyes were open for the first part of the free fall down, but then I shut them as I approached the water. In all, the fall was only a few seconds....of absolute terror! I do remember reaching out with my arms and hands as though desperately trying to grab onto something as a fell through the empty air...there must be SOMETHING to grab onto! Damn it! No there isn´t a thing to grab onto...sht! I am just falling!
So there I fell until I got to the end of the huge rubber band that I was attached to. And then...BAM! The rubberband caught tight as I reached the end of it, and it immediately sent me bouncing right back up! Oh no, what bounces up, must come falling back down...bounce up, fall down, bounce up, fall down...arms and legs bouncing everywhere too. I didn´t know what to do with my body during all this...very unglamorous, but insanely fun! Finally I stopped bouncing, figured out that now I was swinging through the air, hovering just above the water, attached horizontally to the harness...and that I could actually hold onto something now...the harness and rubber band itself...so much fun! I just wanted them to leave me there for a few minutes and let me continue to swing on the rubber band under the bridge and over the water...but no, they through now the other rope that they would use to pull me back up. I clipped it to my harness, and back up I went...back over onto the solid bridge. I made it! By the time I was back up there, a small group of local guys had gathered around
us on the bridge to see all the fun...they were so funny. I am sure they thought we were crazy for sure. One guy wanted to do and I think he would have if he had the money to do it. He was adorable...short, fat, middle aged, sun burnt from working all his days in the sun...and seriously considering how he could figure out a way to jump with us. I almost offered to pay for him...almost. 😊
So after me, jumped the South African guy and then the New Yorker girl...I think she was the most scared...it took her a little while to jump and some coaxing from the rest of us...but she did it too! Woo woo! The most amazing adrenaline rush in the world. By the time we were done, we were all ready to run a marathon and decided to not take a taxi back to town, to just walk along the road and back up the hill. We asked our bungee instructor if this would be ok and he said that we should take a taxi...walking up the road was too dangerous...and he was serious. So ironic! Here he just sent us all off of
a bridge on a rubber band without a second thought, but was seriously not allowing us to walk back home on the road! That is South America for you! Good times!
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Shannon
non-member comment
Hi Sonya, I've been reading your blogs and have a wonderful time traveling with you! It sounds like you are have and obviously doing things you have never done before. Continue your journey and be safe as I will continue reading about them. Shannon