The big jump

You can call me a "lazy bitch". I know I haven't written for a long time - January passed so fast as the holiday feeling. For the first time in my life, it was the most amazing New Year start. Forget about the partying in clubs or watching fireworks in the city center. Forget about watching TV while counting down the last seconds of the past year and think about the new year resolutions - this time I will work harder, will visit my grandparents more often etc etc - and embrace the new times doing something completely out-of-the-box.

My husband booked for us three days of fun and relaxing at Sabie River Camp, close to Sabie town, a very picturesque city in the hearth of Mpumalanga province. That's right, camping on New Year Eve. No luxury hotels, no big parties, no fancy dinners at restaurants on midnight. Just a couple of friends - Johan with his wife, Anel, Willem and his girl, Altie. And camping gear as much as you can imagine - tents, gazebo, inflatable mattresses (damn those mattresses),blankets, picnic baskets, gas stove, flashlights etc.

Camping at Sabie is so different from camping in the Kruger waiting for wildlife to show up while you're drive into the African bush. There was the river Sabie and its stunning waterfall, a patch of endless green grass bordering the river on which both tourists and South African families raised their tents and sat on the camping chairs talking and waiting for the braai fire to be done.

We camped between a large tree casting its shadow on us and a small lake overlooking some distant houses. It was the New Year's Eve and after setting up our camp we decided on a big feast - a braai with boerewors (traditional sausages good enough to grill), potatoes, pork chops and chicken. We ate quite soon - at 6pm if I remember well - and we had lots of drinks in awaiting 2009.

Close to 12, we left our camp site to go near the pool complex, we danced, laughed and we had chapagne at midnight. Fireworks are not allowed in South Africa, particulary because its noise scare the animals, as dogs and cats can get really frightened and run in front of the cars (some incidents have been reported). Despite this, people from Sabie shot some nice fireworks, so I didn't miss that much the party feeling in my city I used to experience.

New Year was there and I was in South Africa, in a remote touristy town, in a camping space, drinking champagne. Now that's cool, I said. But there was more to come the following days. I wrote a piece of article, in case you might wonder what adventure expected us.

Canyoning in South Africa - an adventure for the bold

"Kloofing is lekker!

When I first heard of canyoning (kloofing), my friends tried to convince me how exciting would be to go for a hike in the wild areas down a river stream. Every each of us haven’t tried it before, but it sounded fun and I told myself to give a go to the walking among rocks – the most dangerous thing I expected then would have been crossing a not-so-friendly river and moaning about it.

What is canyoning/kloofing? Well, first of all, it asks for more than a quiet walk among rocks. It implies climbing the surfaces of hills, walking through forests, cross rivers, sometimes swimming in deep waters, crawling down your ass and jumping from waterfalls! And all this while following a river course!

Is it that dangerous? Second of all, it is an organized thing, so you won’t ever expect to go ahead alone in the wild! Tour guides are assigned – they are used with the environment and know the area and the best safe routes to go so the adventure doesn’t turn into a disaster! We were six people and we were given two guides, one showing the front route, helping us in worst cases and the other one making sure that nobody gets lost at the back! Plus, each one of us was offered a wetsuit and a helmet for protection and resistance in the cold water.

Is it for me? If you are quite well fit, you love new adventure and are prepared mentally to carry on for almost three hours, not knowing at all times what unveils in front of you, be that a huge bank of rocks or a waterfall, then you might consider embarking in this unique experience!

Let me remind you that this is a group thing, so you will be helped at times when it seems you can’t go on and get encouraged to go forward. I had to take a jump from three meters high in deep water and, although I never ever tried high jumps in the water, I did it! It took a lot of “come on” and “jump” and “you can do it” and now I’m proud of actually have it done! Saying “no” or “I can’t do it” is not an option when canyoning – you will just be left behind or consider to go back, which is not the case anyway.

Any advice I should take? Well, yeah, there are some important things you must take into account. First, let the guide show you the way and don’t go ahead unprepared! Carefully test the ground before stepping in – some of the rocks down the rivers can be extremely slippery! Then, keep as simple as possible, with easy steps, don’t go for brave jumps or you might break your neck.

• Wear boots, sport trainers or at least very resistant sandals and expect them to get wet and muddy so don’t go for fashionable ones!
• Wear a bathing suit under your clothes
• Girls, consider a ponytail and better stay away from make-up products (if you really can’t, then wear waterproof)
• Don’t carry any purses, bags, mobile phones, jewelry, watches or cameras along the way, as they will slow your moves
• You can opt for a waterproof camera and watch (the camera around your neck). Sadly, one of us had one, so we took breathless pictures with our minds – even now I can visualize the beautiful waterfalls and the incredible wild scenery, so don’t be sad if you don’t get a waterproof camera
• Don’t take food or beverages – the guides are the perfect backpackers and they will provide you with water to drink at all stops. No food, so better eat a light meal before (such as a nice breakfast) or you’ll end up like myself and my friends, who went straight to a restaurant after!
• Bring a change of new clothes with you and leave it in the car. Your suit and your clothes underneath will get seriously wet. It is best to use an old t-shirt underneath.

How do I start? You choose a sport agency or a company that offers canyoning/kloofing activities among their services and decide on the route you want. We chose Sabie Backpackers with their Sabie Sports and Extreme Adventures offerings. Pay, put on your wetsuit, sign the papers (they don’t take responsibility in case something bad happens, it’s your choice to go for the adventure).

Basically, depending on the chosen area (we wanted MacMac Falls canyoning), they will drive you to the beginning spot. We drove some good kilometers from the town of Sabie to nearly MacMac Falls. Then, you get out of the car and the adventure begins!

What do I gain after? I don’t think you would even ask this question. The results would be visible – your body gets physically intense during the long hours adventure, equivalent for your whole gym classes a year! So you can imagine how my whole body still felt days later. Apart from that, it is truly an unique experience you can share with your friends or family and, trust me, you will hardly wait for the next one! My friends and I still want to do it at least once every year during our holidays!"

The first of January I almost forgot about the uncommon camping idea on New Year's Eve. I had even brought a nice outfit for that night - seeing the guys in t-shirts, girls in short pants, summery tops and flip-flops I felt like the black sheep in the herd. At least I looked bit glamorous for camping and both the ladies and lad loved it. The girls even changed a bit their appearance short before the midnight.

So here we are on the first day of my first whole year in Africa to be. We partied until 3am playing some pool after drinks, so I expected we're going to sleep the midday. Instead, I woke up at 7am being too hot inside the tent - I couldn't ask for a better sauna. The sun was shining directly on our tent. Ricky and I decided to go take a long romantic bath by the time the others wake up.

After a feisty breakfast with everyone - scrambled eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes - we spotted a new place to camp under some trees. The people camping there had left in the early morning, so we took the chance and moved everything - the tents, gazebo, chairs, our suitcases and mattresses.

It was a very hot day and I burnt my back skin a little while carrying the camping gear uphill. We were so busy, that I completely forgot about using sun lotion. It was too late and only the after sun spray would have comforted my skin.

The new camping site was perfect, but not less noisy than the previous one. The sheep were following us anywhere, plus there were some chicken roaming next to our tents. I thought it's funny and just took some photos, feeding the chicks bread.

We spent the midday at the cold pool, enjoying every moment cooling under the hot sun, carrying now my sun lotion everywhere. In the afternoon I joined Anel and Altie at cooking the Poijkie Kos - a traditional African stew prepared in a large round pot. We cooked for the boys while they were wandering around Sabie waterfalls, close by after exiting the camping site.

The best part of the entire trip was undoubtedly the hot pool - bathing at 8pm under the starry sky with your love is more than words can say. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start the year.

Camping was fun. Some moments you have while camping may be fun to remember, but they are not surely funny when they happen. That is, the next morning when I woke up with my back against the solid ground. The mattress was completely deflated and I had to put Ricky to blow it up. Next night was the same, but this time we could hear the air coming out from a very tiny hole - it must have been a hole, although I couldn't see it. Ricky said it might have happened while we moved the mattress to the new camping site. Waking up at 2am and inflating the damn thing was not amusing at all for my husband. Neither for myself, who lost precious sleeping moments. Every day we aimed of waking up early to enjoy most of the time together, but after though nights all I could think of was how tired I must have been looking and craving for a king size bed.

Last day, the second, was the day everyone expected. We were supposed to go canyoning and even the cloudy cool atmosphere couldn't stop us. I thought it's going to rain - but luckily we didn't catch it while walking kilometers for almost three hours to MacMac Falls, in the wildest forest and scenery I have ever seen - beautiful, unspoilt, absolutely breathtaking waterfalls! The place where no man puts his foot on, unless he's crazy enough to accept the challenge. To this day, it is the most adventurous thing I ever did in my life. Even I was surprised of how well I've done.

The highlight was, of course, the big jump - if jumping from 3 meters high is considered high - but it was sure a no-no for me, as I fear of having my head entirely under water after jumping in deep water. I couldn't have made it without everyone's cheers and Ricky's help. Jumping with him looking to the spot where we would fall and say continuously in my head "I can do it" was completely heart beating...One of the guides joked about having a second jump at one of the next waterfalls - think it was 10 meters high or so. For a moment I though it's true, dear God, how am I supposed to jump 10 meters when I squeak like a baby at 3?? Thank the same God for all being just a joke, but it really moved my heart, you know..