The thrill of bungee jumping

Kafeero prepares to take the jump at the 100-metre high Orlando Towers. Courtesy Photos.

What you need to know:

  • Daring. Bungee jumping is not a game for weak hearts. Stephen Kafeero had an experience that will always stay close to his heart.

    The Orlando Towers formerly the Orlando Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station.
    The site was opened for its current extreme sports use in 2007 and on offer is bungee jumping, scad free-fall and rap jumping, among others.

Bungee jumping had been on my “bucket list” for about two years yet I had not brought myself to doing it.
I think of myself as risk neutral but a few friends and colleagues had put forward what I considered a challenge.
They had all bungee jumped at the Nile High Bungee in Jinja which is a “44m plunge to the Nile River.

I wanted to do something better and the opportunity to do it in another country and in a town with historical significance, was even more fulfilling.

My encounter with Soweto, a township in Johannesburg had started way in primary school in the revolution against apartheid. The prospect of a 100m drop or 33 storeys down in the town was as scary as stimulating.

The thought of not telling my aunt about this particular escapade haunted me. I knew, like my friends and colleagues, she would talk me out of it yet the thought of failing or not using the opportunity was overwhelming.
To get to the Orlando Towers, I used a taxi from the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Johannesburg.
The 24-km drive lasted for less than 30-minutes. My driver Aaron who had never heard of a country called Uganda, tried to talk me out of the jump.
“Those things, I can’t,” Aaron, a father of three, told me.
At the hotel, I had mentioned the prospect to two ladies but both dismissed my suggestion.
The Orlando Towers formerly the Orlando Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station.
The site was opened for its current extreme sports use in 2007 and on offer is bungee jumping, scad free-fall and rap jumping, among others.
When I arrived, a lady in her 20s took me through the rules including the most important of “no refund if you chicken out”.
My weight was recorded and written on my wrist. Only those who weigh between 35 kilogramme and 115 kilogramme are allowed to jump.

At the payment counter, I was taken through the same drill. There was no turning back after paying my R650 or Shs165,000 including R100 for photos but I was disappointed that the machine for videos wasn’t working.

Here, I met a South African couple negotiating whether to go or not. At last, the lady ‘chickened’ out but the guy proceeded. She only paid R50 to watch her partner make the jump.

I was ushered into the waiting area where I was fitted with a full body harness before heading for the open-air lift.
I closed my eyes for much of the open-air lift ride to the top of the tower. It is scarier than the bungee jump, I learnt later. Inside the lift, you basically see everything outside. Despite the breath-taking view over Soweto, I had started trembling in the waiting area at the top. I wanted to be over with it as soon.
After a few minutes of waiting, I was ushered on the sky-bridge spanning the space between the two towers where my legs were bound in cuffs and attached to an elastic cord.

I had been told to stand straight as I stepped on the suspension bridge but found myself almost squatting with the instructor pulling me back straight. In a few minutes, I was on my way down.
I didn’t scream but all the time, I thought of what my aunt would think of me if I died. What she would say at my funeral or whether she would live through it.

After the first drop, it became normal and was gradually lowered down bouncing, revolving and swinging.
The first thing I did, on the ground, was to check my shorts and they were as dry as I had gone up. It was comforting! In the end, I was awarded a certificate of “extreme valour”. I am sure I was the first to get it in my family, even in my village.

The game

Bungee jumping, also spelt “bungy” jumping involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that has the ability to hover above the ground. The thrill comes from the free-falling and the rebound.