“Don’t you think you are a bit old for that sort of thing?” my travel editor asked. She would no doubt be aghast to hear that a 94-year-old lady has booked a zip-line tour over the Oribi Gorge during the festive season.
As to the other colleague who asked if I was nervous, I am fearless… provided someone else is in control and does all the work! All I had to do was relax, feel the wind in my face, and enjoy the view while my guide, Welile Msinelwa, played master of my fate.
I chose the coward’s route and asked to ride tandem. Still, this meant I could revel in the view, and watch other people’s reactions, rather than be constantly concentrating on when to brake to ensure I did not crash ignominiously into any of the platforms.
Standing on the first platform, at the start of the downhill run, I began to feel a coward for taking the easy way. But my pride was salvaged by the other women in my group, who took one look, then also asked to ride in tandem.
Lake Eland’s 10-stage, 3.3km zip-line tour at the Oribi Gorge in southern KwaZulu-Natal, is the longest in Africa, and it is currently being extended by a further 1.5km. The longest slide of 680m passes right across the gorge, and on it speeds of up to 90km/h can be reached.
For me, adding to the fun of it all was a comment made by one of our guides during the safety lecture: He said the cables had a breaking strength of 2.2 tons, and even an elephant could safely ride across.
So, I had this constant vision of a juvenile jumbo sliding down the line in front of me, trumpeting his excitement.
Comfortably strapped into the harness, and locked onto the cables, with a further safety rope attached, means every precaution is taken. Swinging out over the gorge is spectacular. Far below, the Umzulkulwana River threads through thick indigenous bush. Sandstone cliffs tower broodingly.
Some of the lines are short, some hover between trees, and one – the final on the tour – passes over a lake down in the valley.
The best way to get an impression of the speeds reached, is to watch the shadow of people in flight. It races like a huge, black bird full pelt across the landscape.
How the cable was slung across the gorge is fascinating. Someone stood on the cliff, and cast a hook down on a fishing rod. Those below hunted in the bush for the hook, then attached a thin rope to it, which was then reeled in. A thicker rope was attached to the thin rope, then the safety cables to the thick rope, and finally the main cable.
This was then connected to a bulldozer on the other end, and dragged up Mamba Hill (the end-point for the line over the gorge).
Strangely enough, the two men who dreamed up the zip-line, Trevor and Eric Dunstone of Lake Eland, are both afraid of heights. So designing and setting up the course was left to Shepstone Barnes, who has been in the industry for many years.
If that 94-year-old lady gets cold feet, at present the record for the oldest person on the line is 87, while the youngest is two-and-a-half. Both, of course, rode with a guide.
The tour takes one to three hours. Phone 039 687 0395; 083 215 6744 or 083 257 9468. Website: www.lakeeland.co.za - Sunday Tribune