kloofing + abseiling = orgasmerrific

kloofing is jumping off cliffs. literally. well into water of course. otherwise, that'd be suicide. some might still consider it suicide, considering a bad landing or landing on rocks below would be like SHPOING SPLAT.

wtf.

anyway, we left at like 7am (ugh) to the office where we would get our wetsuits and board the bus. there were 12 of us. lets see...me, scott, bill, katie, alli, jesse, brett, tyler, lauren, becca, laurie and another katie. it was about an hour to an hour and a half scenic drive there...and when we arrived, they totally fed us breakfast. sweet. delicious maple syrup, it was so sticky.

anyway, we began our hike out from the lodge HQ and i guess i was expecting another mountain hike, but it was more of an up-and-down a gorge. aptly named skeleton gorge. but despite its name, it was gorgeous, as usual. nothing in south africa ISNT gorgeous. it was a rather short hike, about 45 minutes to an hour i think. could be wrong, since none of us took our cell phones cuz they were about to be DOMINATED by water.

we arrived, suited up into wetsuits and climbed the first rock above the waterfall...the water was really clean and fresh-looking too. the only bad part about the day was how freaking cold it was, especially after coming out of the water. also, walking barefeet on sharp rocks and climbing up a mountain is not fun--my feet feel like the skin's been flayed off and then dipped in 12M hydrochloric acid.

but the first jump was, as the guy said, only 7m. 21-22ft. doesn't sound like much and we thought it'd be no problem, but when you're standing on that ledge looking down into the water, not knowing if the bottom is deep enough [even though they assure you it is], you have second thoughts. and it was actually WAY more nerve-wracking than bungee jumping, cuz i knew that was 100% safe...and you have a huge cord attached to you. in this, you're trusting yourself to not slip as you jump out, trusting yourself to jump out far enough so you don't land on the trees or another rock below, and trusting yourself to dive into the water properly so you don't end up paralyzing yourself.

anyway, we all went and it was awesomeeeee but sure enough, some of the taller guys touched the bottom as they hit the pool. ouch. and the water was holy shit freezing. on my first jump, i landed with my arms still extended out so my palms hit the water too...and then it felt like my hands had been flayed and then dipped in 12M hydrochloric acid.

we then climbed up to a higher ledge, which was 10m. 3m, or 9ft doesn't sound like much of an increase...but man it is. also nerve-wracking as hell because the previous ledge was RIGHT beneath us, and if you didn't jump out far enough, it looked like you would just smash into it. anyway, we did that--my jump was better this time. no major injuries...so far. it was really cool, and i was feeling confident so i did the 10m one again.

we then packed up again, and continued the hike a little further up to a taller waterfall. the first jump we did there was 18m. BIG step up...and this time, i landed slightly wrong..instead of my legs going completely in first, my butt broke the surface as well and man. it still hurts to sit. but otherwise, it was awesome.
it was so nice to jump into an ice-cold pool with a raging waterfall next to you after you were all hot and sweaty in the wetsuit from trying to climb the rocks barefoot. we even went tarzan at one point and were walking on branches! some of the people opted out of the 18m jump understandably...it was scary.

but we weren't done. we swam across the lake to another waterfall and started climbing that one. this one was the big mama. it was 22m tall, which we calculated to be 71.5 ft. that's seven fucking stories tall.
you know those movies where the super agent spies like jump out of a window or cliff into water to escape the bad guys? or vice versa i suppose. well i can totally do that now :-D

standing at the very edge of that was probably the single most terrifying moment of my life...standing at the edge of the bloukrans bridge 216m high was nothing compared to that moment. i prayed that i wouldn't land wrong and break anything. i got up there, gathered myself for a few seconds and then jumped............and free-falled for about 3 seconds and then boom.

i felt like my spine had been bent in, my neck had been whiplashed and my head had been hit with a sledgehammer and my ass didn't like being rocked by the water for a second time.
i came up and for a brief millisecond, thought i had seriously injured myself...but i wiggled all my limbs and seemed ok. my head was spinning though and it hurt royally.

someone got a sweet video and pictures of me jumping though, so i'm stoked...will be up on facebook as soon as i get home! :]

out of the 12 of us, only 6 of us did the final 22m jump.

jesse was the last one to go and she landed really really bad. im talking like halfway between a standing and sitting position, 45 degrees on her back. we were all cheering her on and when she hit, it was like "oh shit no." she came up and didn't look good and the guides had to swim over to her and get her out cuz she couldn't breathe or move. we thought she'd been paralyzed, but just got the wind knocked out of her...either way, i think she's going to a doctor soon just to be safe. needless to say, as awesome and fun as kloofing was, it's really fucking dangerous.

but thats what makes it so sicknasty i guess :]

we ate lunch there, which the lodge had kindly provided...chicken and mayo sandwiches. afterwards, we all strapped into a harness and got helmets to go abseiling, or rappelling down a rock face. i was the first one to go and i had never done it before. i ended up failing miserably and slamming into the wall and prickly bushes a few times. i thought the helmets were dumb but im glad i had one cuz i felt the helmet hit the wall. towards the end, i got the hang of it and was moving pretty quickly, so i was happy :] definitely more laid back and chill and secure than kloofing, but i preferred the cliff jumping. so moist.

after that, the wind picked up really badly and the waterfall was like blowing back at us it was tiiiight. we hiked back, where they fed us dinner and complimentary drinks [booze]. drove home and here i am...im drained but i think we're going out to see a movie.

kloofing and bungee jumping were by far, the two most exhilarating moments of my life. even the rush of being on stage in a band can't really compare. i want to relive those moments again...but no money. :(