Planning your own trip to South Africa? Read more about my Garden Route itinerary here.

After departing Knysna on Day 6 of my Garden Route road trip, I drive towards Tsitsikamma National Park… but there’s one big stop I’ll make along the way.

You know that expression “Do one thing every day that scares you”? Well after the adventures of the past two years — climbing on the world’s highest mountain, swimming with sharks in Borneo, even finding a snake in my bedroom in Zanzibar — I’m at the point where not much scares me. Heck, I’ve already jumped out of a plane in Australia and it was super fun — I’d do it again in a heartbeat. But bungee jumping? Now THAT scares me.

So even though I really, really want to keep on driving when I pass the Bloukrans Bridge along the Garden Route, I know I have to pull over and give this thing a shot.

Face Adrenalin operates the world’s highest bungee here — the Bloukrans Bridge is more than 700 feet over the river below. (FYI — the word is typically spelled bungee, but here they use bungy instead. Since that makes my spellchecker mad, I’m going with bungee for the sake of this post.)

Welcome to the Bloukrans Bridge!

Every few minutes someone screams bloody murder and a body plummets towards the river below, only to be caught at the last moment by a rope and tugged upwards.

There goes another one:

I’m in the next group. Our guide talks about safety instructions before we head onto the bridge.

There is a catwalk suspended underneath the bridge, and simply walking out to the middle is just as scary as bungee jumping (according to our guide… I don’t believe him).

I don’t have an issue with heights but it still feels a little uncomfortable. I have no doubt it’s totally safe, it’s just not for the faint of heart. Actually, NONE of this experience is for the faint of heart — that’s what sky diving is for. (I jest…)

A peek into the depths below…

The Bloukrans River empties into the ocean in the distance:

Eventually our entire group reaches the center of the bridge, ready for our final safety briefing.

And while I don’t know my fellow bungee jumpers at all, they are game to pose for a fish-eye groupie shot:

Everyone is randomly given a number to indicate which order they’ll jump. I am number four…! That’s not much time to watch others go in front of me while I learn the (literal) ropes. But I’m also glad that my nerves won’t have time to stew for much longer.

There is a monitor above the bungee platform so we can all see the jumper’s face just as he/she takes the plunge.

Say hello to Mr. Camera…

… and off goes the first jumper:

At this point I put my camera away because my turn is rapidly approaching. I’ll skip ahead to share a few images of others before my own…

All first-timers must jump from the very tip of the bungy platform with the cord tied around their ankles. But if you are a pro with a certain number of jumps under your belt, you are allowed to wear a harness that ties around your waist — and you can take a running leap off the bridge instead of merely falling forward. So that’s what this guy is about to do:

Off he goes:

I don’t know this dude below but how great is his expression — that is the face of a happy bungee jumper:

It’s so weird to see everyone disappear in a flash — one second they’re standing in front of us, the next they’re gone.

This guy jumps while holding his GoPro attached to a selfie stick. Remarkably, he doesn’t drop it.

I have my GoPro with me but do not use it since I plan to buy the professional footage (they have cameras rigged up all over to cover the whole jump from different angels). In retrospect, I should’ve strapped the GoPro to my wrist to get a close-up of my face during the jump. If I had gone later in the lineup I might’ve tried this. Oh well, next time. (Ha, there will be no next time — this was a one-shot deal.)

View looking out towards the ocean. One of the first bungee jumpers returns to the platform just before my turn and tells me to be sure to look out that way on the jump. Granted I’ll be hanging upside down, but sure, I will do my best to appreciate that view.

Okay, let’s do this…

The full weight of what I am about to do is too crushing, so my strategy is to pretend it’s not real until the final seconds when there’s no turning back. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt!

Once the rope is properly secured around my ankle pads, I’m asked to walk towards the edge of the bridge. Sure, no problem. I’m just here for the view.

Closer… until my big toes are hanging over the edge, 700 feet above the ground.

My denial coping mechanism is starting to fail, as clearly this thing is about to happen. I am FREAKING out like never before, my stomach turning summersaults and my brain reaching for something — anything — to get me out of this moment.

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is an actual question I asked mere seconds before jumping. I’m sure it was a stall tactic but I’ve blocked this moment out. When I saw it on the video afterwards I burst out laughing at how ridiculous I am.

Final look before my feet left the platform — my eyes are terrified:

BIG SCREAM ALL THE WAY DOWN.

The initial free fall only lasts about five seconds. I actually regret not being more aware of what was happening in the moment. But then the rope hits its limit and snaps me back up into the air, at which point my eyes open and I realize the worst part is over. This is when my brain switches back on and begins recording memories again. Luckily I have the video (we’ll get to that in a minute) to remind me of those first few seconds I blocked out.

From the moment I open my eyes I feel AMAZING. The adrenalin that follows a release of fear is immense.

My body soars up and then drops down many more times as my momentum neutralizes, a succession of shorter free-falls that are way less scary — even enjoyable, dare I say — than the first. A minute or two later I’m still again, hanging upside down trying to enjoy the view while an intrepid employee scoots down to bring me back up to the bridge. He’s able to right my body which stops the rush of blood to my head.

Here we are on the way back up to the bridge:

Back to safety!

See that goofy grin? I am stupidly happy. I DID IT!!!

Okay, are you ready to see the video? I’d suggest turning your sound all the way up — I’ve boosted the audio as much as possible but it’s still low. There are subtitles.

Nuts, right?

Here’s a profile view of bungee jumpers from photos I snap on the way off the bridge as the next group begins.

To certify that it actually happened:

WAHOO…!! I give myself a hearty pat on the back for pulling that off. I really truly did not want to jump off that bridge. But it’s cool to have an opportunity to do something that scares me. Would I jump again? Maybe elsewhere in the world? Pretty sure that’s a no. Some of my friends recently bungee jumped in New Zealand and I got a semi-nauseous just watching their video. But I’m grateful to have done it, to have a first-hand understanding of what the experience is like.

Major thanks to Face Adrenalin for hosting my bungy jump over the Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa. Opinions are my own.