we glide through
the sky of ancient mountains
below our feet
an untouched world
I saw the notification on my phone, and I did not at first understand what was happening. Then I received a call from my fiancé, extatic on the other line, but sending shivers down my spine. She shouted:
WE ARE GOING ZIP LINING...
I hate heights, and I get dreams where I fall to my death. But there we were, standing on the platform ready to jump into the abyss.
This is the story of how we got to this point, standing on the platform ready to jump.
So, please join me on this journey as I take you towards my end, the nightmare I have been having, the moment just before I jumped into some of the world's oldest mountain ranges... Please join me.
Getting Ready for the Jump
We arrived a bit early, but there was no one to greet us. We climbed out of the car and we stood there, waiting for some help. Then two people came out, all joking, saying that the canopy tours were closed for the day. They could see the confusion on our faces, then they broke out laughing. I looked at my fiance, and we both instantly knew this will be one of the best experiences of our lives.
They joked with us from the start. The two joking guys were our tour guides, and they were two of the most friendly people I ever met.
As we signed the waivers, organising another guide that took some photographs and videos of our adventure, the fear began to creep up through my bones: this is real. We are going to jump from platforms into the abyss.
I tried to hide the fear but my fiance saw it from the start. She knew.
But we kept the fear at bay, and I went with her to the room where they will give us the safety briefing.
The ropes won't break.
There are safety backups.
And so on. But I could not really listen between the fear and the realisation of what was about to happen.
Then we drove to the first platform. The ride was a bit bumpy, but the views were amazing. You sit on the back of a small bakkie or 4x4. The fiance and I were the only people for the morning. Our tour guides took the advantage and joked with us.
Then the bakkie stopped, and we got off onto the first platform...
Ready...Set...Jump!
Our guide hooked us into the system, this will keep us from falling. There are two or three different cables keeping us safe. If all three fails, there is still another backup. For all intents and purposes, this was the safest system in the world.
But say that to my fear of heights and jumping from random platforms...
Either way, our guide was the first one to jump into the abyss. At least one of the two guides. The gorge through which we will zip line is one of the oldest in the world. At least, per their website it is. Besides that, it was one of the most beautiful. I had the privilege to hike in the mountains a while ago, and it is really some of the most beautiful in the world.
Beautiful or not, our guide was zip lining in front of us, and I knew it would be my turn soon enough. But before jumping, my fiance asked me to take some photographs with her cell phone and with my camera. And let me tell you, with hands shivering from fear of heights and knowing that you can drop either of these at any moment was not the most fun the world...
And there I stood, watching my fiance go first, jumping into it! Gone.
And there I stood, with only the camera and cell phone in my hands, and my turn next... I put away the gear, and I walked that first step. And my legs shivered. And then... I jumped!
As I hit the first platform, I was struck by the beauty of the gorge. It is a perspective you never get when hiking in them. Neither can you get the same perspective from above on the hike below. Both bring in a new experience of the same thing. It was some of the most beautiful views you could ask for.
As soon as I left that platform the fear went away and I just took in every second of the beauty, of the amazing sights, and the strange feeling that I was a bird of some kind.
Even though it was hot beyond any sane person's idea of what hot was, nature thrived hear with some of the most dense tree growth I have seen in quite a while. I think it was close to 40 degrees Celsius or even warmer. But we survived, and the plants survived.
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With each jump, the mountains and the gorge got only more beautiful. And with each jump, I got less and less scared, even though my hands still shivered beyond my control.
When you get to the halfway mark, you sit in the shade of a very big tree. They guides pull out some water, we take out some snacks, and we share it with everyone.
In this moment of quiet and passiveness, you reflect on what just happened. It does not happen lightening fast, but you still need to process it.
But we also began talking to the guides a bit. Getting their perspective is always interesting, because they jump from these platforms every single day, maybe even three times a day depending on how busy they get. Seeing the same mountains and doing the same adrenaline induced job takes away from the beauty of it all, I am sure. And I think I could get this from them. It becomes a job, and like most things in life, we just carry on and get up the next day and start all over.
I could not help thinking by myself, I would like to do something similar every day. Not jumping from platforms, but being surrounded by nature like this, every single day would be beyond my wishes.
We were not allowed to think too much, because then the fear would set in! And our limbs would become stiff. So, after a quick break, with some water and nice chats, we stepped on the platform yet again!
As quickly as it started, so quick it ends as well. Just as I started getting into the groove of things, the tour guide told us to get ourselves mentally prepared: we are going to go as fast as possible for the last zip line. It was a short one, but the quickest. As soon as you get off the platform, you hear the wind in your ears and you feel the acceleration. Just as you start to feel out of control, you hit the platform, and everyone cheers you on! You made it there alive.
The Hike Back
When you finish, you hike back towards the spot where they dropped you off. You are still in the gorge, slightly lower than you started. It is much cooler down in the gorge itself, and that is probably how these trees and forests survive. You smell the fresh air, after surviving the experience this is liquid gold you are breathing in.
The shivering stops, but the adrenaline still pumps through your body, and it is one of the most amazing feelings there is.
Nature and All of Her Beauty
As you go through each platform, the tour guides show you all of the secrets of the gorge and mountains. One of the most beautiful was the nest of a bird, most likely a vulture or an eagle of some kind.
I could not pick up what species of bird they said the nest were. But as we moved past it, you could see the intricate nest it built on the side of the mountain.
These sightings just once again reminds one of the importance of keeping these places "wild" and "untouched" by our human hands. Yes, the zip line goes through it, but it is much better than tearing down all of the trees to make space for yet more development.
As we climbed up through the gorge, to get back to the bakkie or 4x4 that took us back to our parked car, you also got some glimpses of beautiful native trees growing on the mountain, and you are just again reminded of the beauty of this place.
I could really spend the whole day here, just hiking every route that we could.
Postscriptum, or So We Survived Another Fall
I sometimes wake up from nightmares in which I fall from buildings and so on. Here, I willingly jumped! How crazy? And I survived...
I must say, this was one of the most interesting experiences of my life, but I really enjoyed it. It was really something else.
I hope that you get to experience something similar as well, even if only going for a hike in a local forest.
For now, happy travelling and keep well!
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by the fear of falling! The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.