Canopy Tours

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MAGALIESBERG - "It is simply awesome", said Kim as she swooped in to touch down on the landing platform. "It's like … wow," said her boyfriend as he landed next to her. As the rest of the group landed one by one on the platform their expressions of ecstasy and excitement were much the same. The thrill of their adventure reflected on their faced and was expressed by their ecstatic words.

Canopy Tours are a new way to relish an eco-adventure experience where you can enjoy nature from top-down, on a high-tech version of a foofie slide that really does go over the top as you skim above the trees and get a bird's eye view of nature.

The Magaliesberg Canopy Tour, which opened in November 2004, is the third such venture in South Africa. The other two canopy tours are in the Tsitsikamma forest in the Western Cape and the Karkloof in KwaZulu-Natal.

The canopy tour concept originated in Costa Rica when biologists sought to devise a way to explore the upper level of the rain forests and hit on the idea of attaching cables to the huge trees so that they could slide from tree to tree to collect specimens and take photographs. From this, the idea of offering canopy tours to adventure seekers took off. Mark Brown, a civil engineer from the University of Cape Town, was commissioned to design and install the cable system. He spent a year in Costa Rica setting up the eco-tourism adventure operation before returning to South Africa where he developed the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour with Ashley Wentworth of Storms River Adventures.

So successful were the Tsitsikamma tours which swooped between Giant Yellowwoods in the indigenous forest that it was decided to set up a similar operation in the magnificent Karkloof forest in 2003.

In November 2004 the Magaliesberg Canopy Tour swung into operation. The setting is dramatic, with close to one kilometer of slide cables offering a thrilling series of slides across a kloof in one of South Africa's oldest mountain ranges.

Eleven platforms have been built on to the rock faces of the ravine so that one zigzags from side to side of the kloof, sometimes as much as 30m above the floor of the kloof and the small stream way below.

It is paradise for nature lovers who also seek the adrenaline rush experience. Besides the birds and a variety of indigenous trees and plants, one is likely to spot a duiker or two as well as dassies and baboons.

Tour groups are limited to eight. Two trained guides accompany each group, handling the cable connections and pulleys and checking on all safety aspects throughout the route, which takes about two and a half hours to complete.

Safety is top priority. Before departure all the harnesses and gear are double-checked and before each slide one of the guides goes ahead to check the cables and landing platforms. Clients are buckled into a full harness which allows one to glide across the canyon in a sitting position. The harness is connected to a pulley which is attached to a slide cable with a carry load of 10 tons. A second safety cable can carry loads of 6 tons. Your speed is controlled by pulling gently on the cable with a gloved hand.

Canopy tours are suitable for people aged from 5 to 70 and nervous first-times can slide in tandem with one of the guides. Obviously if you have a severe problem with heights it's not for you. But who knows… maybe this is the way to conquer those fears and take to air in a totally safe manner.

Magaliesberg Canopy Tours depart from Sparkling Waters Hotel, which is about 1 ½ hours from Johannesburg. The cost is R395 which includes transport up the mountain, all equipment, guides and refreshments on the tour as well as a light lunch at the hotel restaurant.

Booking is essential

Contact: 014 535 0150 or visit www.magaliescanopytour.co.za

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