7 April (Day 22)

I jumped off of a bridge today! The tallest possible, actually.
We left Tsitsikamma around 9am and Pierre told us we had an hour until we got to Bloukrans Bridge. He lied. 20 minutes later we were staring at the fourth tallest bridge in the world, home of the world’s tallest commercial bungee jump. I didn’t even go look at the jump, I just went straight to pay and to sign away my life. The bridge is 216m high, and the bungee is 160-180m (depending on your weight). We got weighed, numbered, and harnessed before heading to the bridge.

Eleven GVSU people decided to jump, and Sandy paid to walk out onto the bridge with us but not jump. There were five other people in our group, too: two German tourists, a guy who was jumping twice, and a couple on their honeymoon (cute!).
First we all walked out next to the bridge and had someone explain exactly what would happen, and showed us how to hold out our arms and bend and the knees then jump out. And after that quick, three-minute crash course in bungee jumping we walked out to the bridge!

To get to the center we had to do the “bridge walk,” which is another portion that you could pay to do instead of jumping. It’s kind of like a cage that’s bolted to the bottom/side of the bridge, so you can see through the grates under your feet as you walk. Some people said that was scarier than the jump itself. I’m not so sure about that. I felt incredibly safe the whole time, never did I think I would get hurt or die. So most of my anxiety had more to do with the curiosity of what the actual fall would feel like.

When we got out to the middle of the bridge there were about ten guys out there who run the bungee. They run two cords at the same time, but only one person jumps at a time. Different cords hold different weights, so that was what chose our order.
While we were up on the bridge, they turned on loud dance music and it was the awesome party atmosphere. They definitely make you feel comfortable. I was dancing around, having a great time. They had TVs that projected the live footage of the people jumping, since you obviously can’t see them under you. Carrie went first, and beyond that I couldn’t tell you how many people went before or after me. I do know that my vibe totally changed when they called my name, though. They call you up two jumpers in advance to start strapping you in. Even though you’re wearing a harness, that’s not what holds you when you jump. They wrap pads around your ankles and then tie rope around that. I was barefoot, too, since I wore flats. I’m glad, since I prefer to be barefoot over wearing shoes.

Jeff came over while I was getting tied in to point out that I had suddenly gotten very quiet: very out-of-character for me. After they tie you up, you obviously can’t move your feet, so two of the men came to help me hop up to the edge of the bridge. While I was hopping along, another guy came up with a walkie-talking, seemingly questioning my order! He started asking my jumper number, weight, name, saying them all into the walkie-talkie. Not the sort of thing you want to happen as you’re jumping off of a bridge. Then he said I was good to go. I said, “So I won’t die then?” and was assured that I would not. That was all it took for me.

I hopped right to the edge and put my toes over. One of the men holding onto me told me that he liked my toenails (they’re red) and the next thing I knew they were counting down. There is not anticipation, they count down from five but they do it fast. I jumped over the edge and had four seconds of freefall. I expected it to feel longer than it did, the freefall felt like it went very quickly and then I was swinging. There is no harsh snap, like I had worried. It’s a very gentle pull and sway. This is funny; because I’m told it looked like I snapped pretty hard. My favorite part was the silence. At the top of the bridge there’s all the loud music, and everyone is cheering and screaming for each other. When you go over the edge it all stops. It reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode for “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” except obviously I wasn’t being hung.

After you stop bouncing, you hang for about a minute while someone comes down to get you. This was definitely the longest. I could feel the ropes digging into my legs and it hurt, but it was the best kind of hurt, because it meant I wasn’t going to fall. I was staring out at the ocean when the guy came down to get me. I started to pull myself up when he told me I had to do nothing, the ropes would pull me into a sitting position. I told him that nothing was one of my favorite things to do. Then this guy also complimented my toes! I wonder if it’s weird to wear toenail polish here.

When I got to the top of the bridge my friends were screaming my name and cheering, which only contributed to my non-stop grin. They unhooked me and asked me if I had anything to say for my DVD (another place that sells you DVDs of your experience). I said that I had no words, and I really didn’t. This whole trip has robbed me of my adjectives. I wish I could describe my experiences, and I think you can tell that I’m really trying, but I just can’t do it justice.

Almost all of us had jumped when they made us leave the bridge. For safety reasons they can’t really have 15 people just hanging out on the bridge, so we literally ran back up to the lookout point to see Jake and Jeff jump. It was cool to watch from there, because they had a TV screen showing the same video that we had watched on the bridge, but we could also see the bridge itself with them jumping off of it.
Afterward we bought our pictures and DVDs, took pictures around the area, and got certificates showing that we jumped. Then we made sandwiches with stuff we had on the bus and had a quick picnic lunch before hitting the road again.

Next up was Birds of Eden. It’s outdoors, but with a gigantic net around it, I guess? I don’t really know how to describe it. It was really pretty because there were boardwalks through the forest and obviously there were a ton of birds there, but I don’t know much about birds so the only ones I could identify were flamingos, parrots, and a toucan. We also saw a marmot/squirrel monkey/I don’t know what it was but that’s what people said. It ran right next to me on the railing of the boardwalk! It was so cute. My favorite thing that I saw at Birds of Eden was a mammal.

A couple more hours of driving found us in Mossel Bay. After going out to dinner we checked into the hostel. I’m in the Whale Room with Anna, Alex, Jeff, Jake, Kate and three other people. One of the guys in our room is from Baltimore, and there’s a female teacher from Toronto. This place definitely has a more hostel-y vibe, with a bar and a pool table and people hanging out. A couple people went out, but I wasn’t feeling well after dinner so I stayed in.