Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Explore Africa<br />
Bloukrans Bridge…world’s highest bungee<br />
jump, and a paradise for adrenalin junkies<br />
This is the adrenalin junkie’s paradise. Throw yourself off a 216m high<br />
bridge. If you live to tell the tale, visit the delightful coastal hamlet of<br />
Nature’s Valley right next door where you can paddle up the Groot<br />
River in a kayak, or swim in the warm sea. Do the canopy tour at Storms<br />
River Village or hike around the breath-taking Storms River mouth,<br />
starting point of the famous Otter Trail. Or take time off meeting with<br />
elephants, monkeys and many, many birds. And Plettenberg Bay is just<br />
10 minutes away.<br />
Anybody looking for some serious adrenalin rush, should head out to<br />
the Bloukrans Bridge on the provincial border between the Western<br />
and Eastern Cape, easily accessible by good highways from Cape Town,<br />
Port Elizabeth and the inland cities, with an airport at nearby George.<br />
Not only does the bridge allow you to throw yourself off – tied to the<br />
end of a rope of course – for a hair-raising free-fall of over 200 meters,<br />
but there is much more to do for outdoor, adventure, action and<br />
adrenalin addicts in the Tsitsikamma area surrounding the Bloukrans<br />
Bridge. It is also a nature lover’s paradise with unequalled natural<br />
scenery.<br />
Standing 216 meters above the Bloukrans River which passes below<br />
through a narrow gorge, the Bloukrans Bridge, constructed between<br />
1980 and 1983, is the highest arch bridge in Africa. Its central span is<br />
272m and the bridge is 451m in length in total, carrying the Garden<br />
Route section of the N2 dual carriage freeway that connects Cape<br />
Town with Port Elizabeth over the gorge and river. It is also home to the<br />
highest commercial bridge bungee jump in the world.<br />
Grotto Bay<br />
PhotoSky / Shutterstock<br />
a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cape West Coast Biosphere<br />
Reserve aims to foster ecologically sustainable human development,<br />
conserving the natural landscapes, vegetation and species of the West<br />
Coast, and to support research, education and information exchanges<br />
related to such <strong>issue</strong>s. The area is covered in beautiful fynbos and has<br />
a rich variety of birds and small mammals and reptiles, including a<br />
tortoise population.<br />
For those who lack the nerves to make the jump – and nobody will<br />
hold it against you, because it is terrifying – a walk across the walkway<br />
under the bridge that takes one to the arch of the bridge and the jump<br />
platform, will not only allow you a birds’ eye view of the awesome<br />
natural delights of the surrounding Tsitsikamma and Garden Route,<br />
After the jump<br />
Grobler du Preez / Shutterstock.com<br />
After a fulfilling day’s exploration, hiking, swimming, surfing or diving,<br />
you can sit back on the ruins of the ghostlike old farmers’ homes, or on<br />
the veranda of your B&B in Grotto Bay village, sip some cocktails, snack<br />
on crayfish and watch some of the most spectacular sunsets over the<br />
Atlantic Ocean. Be sure to pay a visit next time you drive up the West<br />
Coast.<br />
Contacts: Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve<br />
Tel +27 (0)83 708 4007 email info@capebiosphere.co.za<br />
website www.capebiosphere.co.za; South African National Parks<br />
Tel +27 (0)12 428 9111; and CapeNature Tel +27 (0)21 483 019.<br />
56 |ISSUE 4|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZI TRAVEL
Change language