Prior to this weekend if you had asked me, if I would ever leap off a 55 storey building, the only answer would be an emphatic no. However, ask me if I would jump off a 165m high cliff, I’d still tell you no.
And yet this weekend I did. Wild 5 Adventures in Oribi Gorge is a place I had only really seen in pamphlets, and when I got the opportunity to to go this weekend on a work trip, I grabbed it with both hands.
I had heard of the of the infamous 165m swing and because of the word ‘swing’, I thought to myself, surely it can’t be that bad. It’s a swing after all, and zip lining which I had done before, was probably a lot more extreme.
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When we arrived we geared up in harnesses much like the ones for zip lining, and made our way down the edge of the cliff next to small waterfall.
It didn’t occur to me that I was expected to go first. At this point the fear had consumed me and so I refused the first time.
I had never seen it done before so I had to see some sort of demonstration. After one of the co-workers I was with on this suicide mission, the one who had previously done this before also chickened out, I decided that this time I was going do it.
As soon as he clipped the rope I was going to jump from to my harness, I once again felt the rope pull with force as if it were trying to drag me to the earth below. The instructor told me to jump towards the right when I took off. Safe to say I didn’t take off and a little nudge from him was all I needed to get going.
When my feet left the edge of that cliff I could fell myself plunging towards the rocks below. Three seconds into it I felt as though I had unknowingly chosen to end my life.
Three seconds after that I cannot tell you what happened. All I remember was my senses gathering right before the pull from the rope as I swung through gorge. That moment alone was truly phenomenal and almost made plunging face first through a gorge worthwhile.
The climb back was extremely tedious. Although I may have been enjoying the view from down there, I was very anxious to get back to the surface.
It’s safe to say I’m glad to have tried it, it was an unforgettable experience, one that I will always cherish. We often restrict ourselves in this short life to living within the lines, and often find ourselves trading nostalgia for regret.
However way your time comes, let it come your way, or at least let it happen with you having felt fulfilled with the life you’ve led.
In memory of Thokozani Mncube.
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