Three Hour Tarzan

The Karkloof Canopy Tour is advertised as the one of the longest canopy tours in Africa, but it was still over too quickly. It's a wonderful experience to fly through the air, suspended on a line expertly woven through the treetops and I just didn't want it to end. All my childhood imaginings of zip lines emanating from my bedroom window, while supremely impractical, were essentially correct. Though I might have argued to my parents that an escape wire strung from the second story of our home could prove essential to surviving a first story blaze, what was really on my mind was the fun of frequent fire drills. The thrill is the thing.

Our highwire trail took us through indigenous forests filled with varied, but regrettably well-camouflaged bird life. We passed near enough to a lovely waterfall that we could feel its spray. The rolling hills and lush green farmscape in the distance were stunning. But both the wild and the pastoral beauty took second stage to the happy sensations of dizzying speed and height. You look down to the forest floor 30 meters below, but still feel secure because you're suspended by a reassuringly complex web of professional climbing equipment. The guide had mentioned that just one of the straps could hold a couple tons and you're reasonably confident that you weigh less. After setting off with a squeal, you're soon squinting because the wind is whipping your face. You procrastinate pulling down on the wire to slow your pace, doing so only when necessary to dodge obstacles. And when you reach the other side, you listen to the crazed whoops of your friends swinging off before or after you.

I began to get impatient with the necessity of stopping at the platforms. It's true that the views from them were consistently gorgeous and because there were only five of us on the tour we never had to wait long for the carabineers and safety carabineers to be unattached and reattached to the main and safety lines in preparation for the next slide. But I just wanted to keep going and any interruption to soaring through the air was surprisingly unwelcome.

So here's to making even longer zip lines to break all records so that we may swing through the trees like monkeys all the day long. Three hours of flight just isn't enough.

By Meredith Bragg |  February 6, 2006; 7:31 AM ET  | Category:  South Africa
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Posted by: Klimber | February 8, 2006 02:46 AM

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