Thursday At 3:25am I was woken up by the Commander, who was all dressed and ready to go. With my stuff all ready, I just grabbed the pile of clothes, set out from last night, and threw them on. I gave my teeth a quick brush for freshness and we were basically ready to go. We were out of the suburb by 3:40am with Mark at the wheel. Elaine and I immediately pulled out the fruit salad and had our breakfast (or midnight snack, either one). Only a handful of traffic was on the road, but despite that advantage, we ran into fog, lowering visibility and slowing down our progress considerably. I slept for the next few hours, waking subconsciously every now and then. Part of the reason I kept waking was likely because I half wanted to see the sun rise, but in the end I slept through most of it. Things went from bad to worse when the fog finally lifted, because we ran into about 5 construction sites in a row. We got through a few of them without a wait, but then sat for about 20-30 minutes at some other ones. During this time, of course, I really needed a bathroom break. I suffered silently for over half an hour before finally arriving upon a gas station. We were starting to get fed up with our pitiful time we were making, so we tried to make up for lost time. Usually you would speed to make up for lost time, but the only difficulty with this was the speed trap cameras littered everywhere on the particular road we were on. It took a little longer than we would have liked, but soon we stopped in a cute little town called Knysna (pronounced yes na) for some refreshments. Back into the car we all hopped again, and headed for the Bloukrans Bridge. You may or may not know what Bloukrans Bridge is known for, so I'll tell you. Bloukrans is the highest bridge bungee jump in the WORLD, with a free-fall of 216 meters! Our excitement mounted as we finally drove over the infamous bridge, looking out the car windows at the valley below. Caleb and I were the only ones who were willing to take the plunge, and we couldn't wait! We filled out the required forms, complete with your name, address, phone number and lawyer (just joking), then got weighed on the scales. They then proceeded to writing on your hand with a black, permanent marker, your weight, bungee jump number and the time of your jump. So, until the marker washes off, I'll be walking around with my weight written right on my hand. When the papers were filled out and signed, we went to get our harnesses on and fitted. A smaller sized dark guy, in his mid 20's got us all geared up. He told us that this was 100% safe, and that even royalty and celebrities have tried it, Prince Harry and Brad Pitt were his two examples. At 11:40 all the jumpers met in the little gear shelter, then headed to the path to go to the bridge. The path we took wound around through some trees, then came out by the road beside the bridge. There was a little walkway connected to the left side underneath the bridge itself. The bottom of the walkway is made from metal mesh, that is completely safe (I think), but sinks down slightly when you step on it, giving you a funny feeling. Looking down at the greenery 216 meters below on the way across is quite an experience itself. Finally we made it to the centre of the bridge, where there was more of the Face Adrenaline Staff. They welcomed us, did a roll call, then immediately got started. Caleb and I were almost the last ones in line to jump, with only 2 after us. Originally Caleb was to jump before me, but when they called Caleb's name, another guy said he was Caleb and jumped in his place. I was totally excited by the time they called me to get ready to jump. First they wrapped these things around each ankle, and fastened the velcro straps. The purpose of the things was to protect your ankles from the pulling of the rope. Next they wrapped a big, strong, red strap around my ankles, telling me they could hold up to 300 kegs. They hooked me up to one more strap for an extra safety, then it was time to jump! The adrenaline was pumping as I held on to the guys and hopped to the edge. I went out until my toes were curled out over the edge, looking down at the ground hundreds of meters below. "Five, four, three, two, one-BUNGY!" With all the strength I could muster I made a flying leap off the bridge, arms spread out, heart pumping, eyes wide open. After 2 seconds I started to breath again, enjoying the next 3 seconds of freefall before I felt the rope start to tighten. It was another approx. 3 seconds until the rope was fully stretched, then I was on my way back up again. Then I freefell again, went back up, and freefell again, etc. etc. After a good amount of rising and falling, I looked up with disappointment to see the red-suited guy coming to retrieve me. As he hooked me up, for the ascent, he asked my name, then told me his. He proceeded to shake my hand, and ask where I was from. When I got to the top, a group of the guys were there to help get me unhooked, and ask how my first bungy jump was. Caleb was getting ready to jump as I was getting unhooked, so I tried to watch. The guys told me I could see him fall if I looked down from where I was, so thats what I did. My head felt really funny from the jump, and my eyes felt like they were sticking 2 feet out of my head. You could feel the pressure of the blood as it rushed to your head while you were upside down. When the last girl jumped and got back to the top, we talked for a few minutes, venting our excitement to one another. She was from Brazil, visiting SA for 15 days. All too soon we were heading back across the bridge, which didn't seem as daunting as before. Elaine and Mark were waiting for us when we climbed the hill and rounded the corner. We went to the Souvenir Shop where you go to see your video and pictures from the jump, there's also t-shirts and other souvenirs to buy. I was full of excitement when we came back to where Elaine and Mark were. When I got calmed down enough, got my certificate, bought the dvd and pictures of the jump and made a quick bathroom break, we were on our way once again. My face still felt funny even an hour after the jump. I was glad it didn't look as funny as it felt! We drove and drove and did some more driving, then we passed through Port Elizabeth, and I knew it wasn't too much longer from there! In another 2 hours we were pulling in the gate at the house in Ntoleni, looking at all the kids as they ran out of the house in excitement upon our arrival. I was feeling tired by the time the evening rolled around, needless to say I went to bed pretty early!
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