|
We arrived early at Abseil Africa’s HQ in
Long Street, Cape Town. Actually Bevan and I arrived
on time at 7.15am on a warm Sunday morning and with little hassle
or fuss. But it was clearly too early for some of the young AA staff
and some of the other clients. So the doors weren’t open yet, but
they soon did and we dug in for the wait with our encounter with
Kamakaze Kanyon.
Now entrusting your life to a bunch of youngsters still recovering
from the previous nights escapades might not seem like a good idea
but then some of the other participants in the day’s adventures
didn’t exactly look up to the task either.
I suppose being a DJ means you are used to waking up before you
go to sleep and never really being awake, so it’s a testimony to
Pete and Jonny, Aka
Dj’s Deep Heat and Jono that they arrived there at all before 8am, with 2 friends
in tow. Fine, they were looking a bit worse for wear, sucking on
their red Bulls like a baby would a bottle but they were there and
despite a few moans and groans were up for the Canyon.
 After
too much staring at the pulse-rate-increasing photos on the wall,
we were driving up the N2. Destination Steenbras
Gorge. just outside Gordon’s Bay
about a 50 minute drive from the city centre. Named Kamakaze
Kanyon by the Abseil team for some of the death defying jumps
the various pools and their craggy surrounds offer. But first, breakfast
at Silver Sun Lodge, across the road from the entrance to the gorge.
After fueling up on croissants, muffins and fruit salad and downing
some coffee we were ready to go. We hooked up with a group of six
from Somerset West, who had met us at the lodge and we were off
into the canyon, the DJ’s seemingly revitalized by the eats and
drinks now had a beat in their step. With the sun fast raising the
temperature I was just happy to finally be on the trail and heading
for our first swimming spot.
Unfortunately, like many other areas in the Western
Cape, the Cape
Chachma baboons continuously shrinking natural domain is making these
local animals pests to be reckoned with and Steenbras
Gorge is now a regular target for these hungry and sometimes dangerous
wild animals. We were warned they are present and did encounter
a few on the way into the gorge but they thankfully left us alone.
About 40 minutes into our hike we arrived at our first watering
hole, not the local drinking hole but a stunning natural swimming
pool surrounded by cliffs and rocks. Cooling down was our first
priority before the excitement begins. At swimming pool one there
was a 10m and a 7m option cliff jumping option and various others
in-between depending on where you chose. I sufficed with the 7m
and Bevan and I expounded wisely on the lack of need to prove our
manly hood by doing stupid things, now that we are going to both
be fathers in the not too distant future. The rest paid no heed
and jumped or dived from any available ledge they could find.
Having cooled off sufficiently
it was time to head for the top of Thunder Falls.
The walk up is a steep but fairly short one. We took about 35 minutes
from bottom to top. Now it was time for the rapid descent, the dope
on the rope experience the crew’s T-shirts boast. After getting
some snaps of the 2 crew members, Cheesy the crazy, enthusiastic
Malawian and Richard the long armed and legged boulderer
and seeing them safely reach the bottom, it was our turn. Bevan
goes first and after a few nervous grins for the camera, successfully
dips out of sight without so much as a whimper or scream. Now I have abseiled before, about 20 years ago. I abseiled
60m into a cave but it still doesn’t make it easier when you are
told to lean back into a 65m drop. It just doesn’t seem right, no
matter how many ropes you are attached to. Anyway, I managed, did
the obligatory hands-out pic and negotiated the few steps off the cliff before relaxing
and enjoying the slow ride down Thunder Falls.
Keeping one eye on the pools spread out below me, and the
other on the waterfall next to me trying to enjoy its cool spray
without soaking my camera in my back pack. With feet firmly on the
ground, it was time to enjoy the cool waters around us and watch
the rest negotiate the falls. All did well including Derrick, who
is scared of heights, he chain smoked for the rest of the day but
then again he was doing the same before. Consider leaning back with
65m of fresh air between you and the beautiful water oh so far away.
Scary enough if you’re not scared of heights, although it is said
by some that you’re not scared of heights, you’re scared of falling.
With
all of us safely at the bottom, the crew packed up their equipment
and we headed for the lower pool for some serious rock jumping.
What? More Serious? What was that little cliff we just jumped off,
abseiled someone corrected me.
Before
moving to the lower pool, we noticed a small troop of baboons sauntering
cockily through a large group of picnickers, and scared
a group of school boys sunning themselves on a rock. The boys on
spotting the baboons slid as one on their bums into the water, leaving
their bag for the animals to inspect. The boys were fine and the
baboons on emptying their bag and not finding anything to eat left
it alone. Apparently, when one does grab your bag, the baboon that
is, you don’t want to chase him way or they will scamper away with
your belongings to unreachable parts of the surrounding mountains.
Try getting that new GPS, phone, camera, wallet back then. All sorts
of baboon-gang conspiracies abound, either way, whether you’re mugged
by a baboon or by a human a mugging is a mugging, best to be avoided.
Safety in numbers is a start. Fanie, one
of the crew members explained that the baboons don’t seem to bother
the AA team much and implied that was because the crew had fought
them off a few times and the baboons knew better. I didn’t have
the heart to tell him that it was probably because the baboons had
already tasted those sweaty sandwiches we all were given as part
of our pack lunch and that should the baboons succeed in stealing
one of our packs he would probably throw the sandwiches back.
Sandwiches
aside, I watched at the next pool as Vaughn, another crew member
who had successfully abseiled us all down earlier launched himself
off about 15m into the water, followed by the cheeky cheesy who’s
earlier self confidence/ bravado deserted him temporarily and had
him teetering on the edge before taking the rather serious plunge.
All done and after a pleasant walk out, we ended with beers and
boerie rolls back at the Sun Bird Lodge. Not a bad way to
spend a Sunday, or any other day for that matter. Out
in Nature, roaming with the baboons, rock jumping into beautiful
clean waters, abseiling down waterfalls, a good mixture of adrenalin
and calm, sun and water. Now that the 65m is clipped tightly
on my Karabiner, time to take on the highest commercial abseil of
them all, the 112m drop off Table Mountain
at 1000m above sea level. Can’t wait.
|