Jumping Off Things

I feel I should probably apologise to our parents before this post. We’ve had the most incredible day, but we do not accept liability for any undue stress caused by these circumstances…

Today we had booked in for abseiling, zipwire and a gorge swing across the Zambezi River. We arrived at about 9am (after a freezing ride on an open-topped tented truck) and before we knew it, we were being given a safety brief and reading disclaimers (all of which seemed in order from what we knew about legal contract formation). Looking at the surroundings and the setup, I began to think we were slightly mad: here we were in a foreign country with goodness knows what safety regulations, about to jump off a 100 metre cliff face in various ways. What were we doing?!

The first activity was traditional abseiling, which looked rather ominous from the vertical cliff face. Somehow I ended up going first, and stepping off the edge really got my heart going. However once the top was over, it actually became quite fun doing the whole jumping thing: you have to put your feet against the wall and then bounce out way from it, letting rope out as you go. I was glad we had someone at the top to moderate our speed incase we slipped. Also you had to be careful to push the same amount with both feet otherwise you span – I did end up doing this once, but it was an incredible way to see a 360 degree panorama of the gorge.

Eva and I watching critically as the instructor abseiled down

Once I got to the bottom, I waited for Eva to get down (I have a feeling that she was probably a bit smoother at that than me) but then it dawned on me that, having descended to the bottom of the gorge, we had to get back up again. So we set off along a track that led us back up to the top, all the way to the top of the gorge. We were slightly unsettled by the rustling which came out of the long grasses on either side – I’m not sure whether the assurance that ‘we never usually have lions here’ helped or not.

When we trekked back up, it was time for the zipwire. We had two options: either seated (attaching the wire to the front of the harness) or flying (attaching the wire to the back). We tried one of each, choosing the seated first as at least then, you have something to hold on to. The flying position gives you no choice but to look down! The zipwire did turn out to be a popular choice for us, as instead of the trek back up the gorge, we got reeled in again – not that we’re lazy or anything...

Next was ‘forward abseiling’. This was something I’d never heard of before: they attach the rope to the back of the harness and you abseil down facing the ground. Getting off the top was easily the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done – not only can you see the ground looming and have a feeling you might just fall in to it, but there is also the bizarre feeling that if you let too much rope out, you’ll face-plant the rock face (which I think is a physical impossibility, luckily). Again though, once I got off the top it was actually brilliant fun, and I found it exhilarating to bounce away from the wall and feel myself flying through the air.

Eva got down without any problem too, but it meant another hike back up the gorge (which Eva definitely managed with more style than me). But next was the gorge swing: the bit I had been waiting for, and Eva had been dreading. It involved being attached to a long rope, and jumping off the edge of the gorge. There was then a freefall of 53 metres (over half the cliff) before the rope became taught, and then you swung up to the other side of the gorge, and back again, until they lowered you down to the ground when you stopped swinging. We hadn’t seen anyone try it – I’d done a similar thing in the US on an adventure park, but never on such a scale or in such surroundings. Eva wanted to go first this time, as she had a feeling she never would if she waited, but after a few minutes she came back from the platform and asked me to go first. Whether it was a fear reflex or what, I don’t know (also I’m sure the guy at the top was slightly hypnotic) but I just didn’t think about anything: the next thing I knew I was freefalling like a leaf (or perhaps more like a stone) from the top of the cliff. Because gravity completely took hold, I also didn’t stay the right way up – it was genuinely the most terrifying but wonderful three-and-a-half seconds of my life. When the rope became taught and I began to swing, I had a chance to enjoy the view, with the curve of the Zambezi flowing at the bottom of the gorge, the trees beneath and the rocks on either side. It was bliss (except for the rather painful harness around my legs).

I waited for Eva at the bottom with Isaac, the guy who took the harnesses off, but after a few minutes, the message was shouted down that she couldn’t do it (I’m sure this was a ploy so to get me fit on the hike back up to the top). After many minutes’ persuasion back at the top – Eva said she wanted to jump but just couldn’t – she finally conceded that perhaps she would do it after some food. We had a very acceptable meal of chicken, cold pasta and salad, and after another few minutes having a pep-talk, we decided to do the jump in tandem (we’d be joined at the hip – literally – and have our feet strapped together). Eva closed her eyes as we jumped, but eventually we were both falling through the sky and screaming. She says she was glad she’d done it, but isn’t likely to try it again!

After a few more whizzes down the zipwire, it was time to call it a day and head off (after a couple of beers with the staff, which we were happy to see they saved until after the day’s work). Now we’re feeling incredibly exhausted, I think through a mixture of both exercise and adrenaline, and both of us are feeling incredibly satisfied.

We went out for dinner and ate crocodile last night – it was really good, and tasted a little like chicken but with a texture similar to steak. Mmmm…

Now we’ve had our day of adventure and survived, no need to worry about us! Glad we’re still here to tell the tale. Loads of love from us.