I’m staring bleakly at the long stretch of cable dwindling off into the distance. I can barely see where it attaches to the fynbos-covered mountain opposite me – all that’s evidently clear is the immense gorge I’m about to step into. Not even sky diving has prepared me for this.
About four platforms in, I’m becoming moderately less melodramatic. The cable hasn’t snapped, I haven’t fallen out my harness, my camera hasn’t plummeted to its demise. I’m starting to take in the thrill of gliding, air sweeping past me in a rush, the slight grating sound of my pulley on the reassuringly-thick steel above me. This really is breathtaking. The Riviersonderend Gorge is a wild tangle of green below me and we’ve just passed a waterfall. Our good-natured guides have set us (meaning me) at ease. They’re familiar with the ropes so to say, they’ve done this many times before and their chipper enthusiasm is infectious. I start to catch on to what the rest of my group discovered the instant they stepped off platform one – that this really is awesome.
From the 4×4 drive, bumping over the rocky road with increasingly beautiful vistas of the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, to the precariously high 13-platform route (with a max slide length of 320m), to the meandering walk that brings you back to the pick-up point and gives you a chance to unwind after all that adrenalin – this has been a 4-hour experience I’ve recommended countless times since.
Need more convincing? Cape Canopy Tour was recently placed second on the list of the world’s hottest new tourism experiences for 2015 by Lonely Planet – the only African attraction to make the list.
Canopy Tours are normally R695 per person, or R655 per person, with a Wild Card.
But until 31 October 2015, there’s a great winter special – R595 per person. Tickets can be booked in advance online, or by phone on 0213000501.
Get a taste of the experience from this short aerial video.
