Canopy Tours

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The hills were alive with the sound of screaming, whoops and cries of sheer glee echoing through the rocky gorge as we revelled in the natural high of an adrenalin rush, brought on by the fact that we were zipping along cables strung up on high in the crisp, clear air of the Magaliesberg.

 

The occasion was my umpteenth attempt to conquer an irrational fear of heights. The outfit was Magaliesberg Canopy Tours. The result was mixed; not an unequivocal success, but with many positives to mull over.

 

I remain afraid of flying (though nothing a few stiff drinks can't cure); am still wary of elevators and tall buildings; and the thought of abseiling down a steep cliff face still triggers a cold sweat and much trembling.

 

But fear be damned: when something is this much fun you tend to ignore all other considerations and I will most certainly be back for more "punishment" as soon as possible.

 

There is no better way to conquer a fear than to face it head-on and, apparently, I am not the only person to think so. I'm told that many of those who embark on the canopy tour - in the Magaliesberg or at one of the other two tour sites in the Karkloof region of KwaZulu-Natal and the Tstitsikamma Forest in the Eastern Cape - do so despite their fear of heights.

 

Do it a few times, I'm told, and your fears dissipate.

 

Even some of the professional guides who take groups sliding from cable to cable, platform to platform, craggy ledge to craggy ledge, claim to have suffered from the very same fear, a fear they say is now a distant memory thanks to their daily diet of sliding through the air while suspended 30m above ground.

 

Leaving the therapeutic effects of the canopy tour aside for now, I should point out that it is also as much fun as you can possibly have without straying on to the wrong side of the law.

 

A canopy tour involves sliding from one high-level platform to another along a series of steel cables suspended above the ground. The tours consist of about 10 slides, ranging in length from 10m to 170m, that zigzag from platform to platform through a pristine forested valley (in the Tstitsikamma), or ancient rocky gorge (Magaliesberg), or a combination of the two (Karkloof).

 

Tree-top canopy slides were originally designed to allow biologists and other science geeks easy access to mysterious forest canopies in order to study the hard-to-get-at plants and beasties that live high up in the trees. Remember Sean Connery in Medicine Man? That's the idea.

 

Anyhow, biologists realised that sliding through the trees was fun and the idea caught on.

 

There are a number of canopy tours around the world - including an apparently brilliant, and very scary, one in Costa Rica, but it's here in SA that the idea has really taken off.

 

In fact, so popular are the three canopy tours, all run by the same company and open seven days a week from early morning to late afternoon, that booking is not merely advised but compulsory, unless you just want spend your time watching others getting kitted up in all manner of safety paraphernalia.

 

Those worrying about their safety should rest assured that such concerns are paramount and Canopy Tours has yet to experience a bad accident after almost four years in operation.

 

There are backups aplenty - including two safety lines that take over if anything goes wrong with your main cable - and tour groups are accompanied by two guides at all times.

 

The tour itself begins with an in-depth safety briefing before the guides, expertly trained and professional to a fault, help kit you out with a full-body harness, pulleys, heavy-duty gloves for extreme braking, and a rather uncomfortable helmet. Warning: those with bigger-than-usual heads will suffer some discomfort.

 

Then it's up to the launching pad in the back of a bakkie and, sooner than expected, on to the first cable.

 

All three canopy tours are designed to start off slowly and the first gentle slide may leave some of the more adventurous wondering what all the fuss about. Relax and wait a bit, things speed up the further along you go.

 

By the third or fourth cable you will be whooping it up with gay abandon as you speed across the gorge, one gloved hand poised to apply braking pressure as the cliff face approaches a lot faster than you expected.

 

Beware of braking too early, however - or you may find yourself dangling midpoint with no other way to get to the next platform except to clamber hand-over-hand along the cable, like some Special Forces operative on a daring secret mission.

 

In winter it will not be a problem; in summer you're likely to lose a couple of kilos through water loss.

 

For those still wary of taking the plunge there is the tandem - or "look ma, no hands" - option in which you are attached to the lead guide, who will then control your speed and braking, freeing up all your senses to focus on the experience without undue worry.

 

But worry is likely to be the last thing on your mind as you whiz along with the wind rushing through your hair, if you have any.

 

It is a fantastic experience and if there's any fault to be found it's that the tour is over far too quickly - or at least it feels that way; we were up there for close on two hours but it felt all too brief.

 

It's time, then, for another therapy session. All together now: Yeee-haa!

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