Nothing like a good expedition to snap us out of our mundane routine of daily life; whether it is a walk out in nature or jumping from a perfectly functional aeroplane, I think we all need to give ourselves that sweet sweet taste of adventure from time to time.
In this post I will be looking at just such an adventure at just the right time in my life that I got to share with (new) fellow Steemian @couchilze and my amazing daughter Meggan.
Now firstly let me start off by sharing that Ilze and Meggan just so happen to share a birthday, and as it happened, Ilze who as you will know from following her posts, has found a new lease on life, and with a wonderful heart and a new found sense of adventure she decided that she wanted to take on the Magoebaskloof Canopy Tours for her birthday and invited myself and Meggan to share the adventure with her.
The Magoebaskloof Canopy Tours takes you on an overhead tour of the majestic valleys, waterfalls and scenic views of the Magoebaskloof mountain range situated at the tail of the Drakensburg range in Limpopo, South-Africa. It is a series of 14 platforms built on the hangs of the cliff-sides of the mountain that allows you to move in-between them while harnessed to the cables that connects them.
Now this is the fun part, once you reach the first platform, the only way out... is in!
There is now way of turning back an certainly no way of opting out, because the only way that you will be getting your ass safely back to solid ground is to make the 14 jumps. Each jump leading to you gliding over a different magical section of the forest while suspended by cables.
Let me tell you something - not one of the three of us can be classed as die hard adventure seekers, and honestly the fact that all three of us struggle with an immense fear of heights certainly did not aid the matter, none the less off we went, three friends, six shaking boots and a commitment to overcome whatever we were faced with from that point onward we made our way to the first platform.
I must admit that I was under the impression that after the first jump, you would become accustomed to being up in mid air flying through the sky over the most brilliant views you could possibly fathom, however reality called bullshit on that sentiment, and it never got any easier leaving the platform behind although it was just temporary sanctuary between the jumps and a false illusion of being earthed as all the platforms were about the height of a four story building from the ground, but at the same time the adrenaline combined with the breathtaking view seemed to be encouragement enough to move on (well that and the fact that as I stated earlier, there was no other way to get to the other side.)
See how in the picture below, the platform looks like it might be leading down to the ground? WELL IT DOESN'T!
The last piece of the platform you can see, is the last piece there is, after that it is a sheer drop.
With some of the platforms you had a sense of stability, as they were wider and as such felt more secure, however some of the other platforms were so tiny in width that you had to shimmy your way across them with your back against the cliff wall, and as if that was not interesting enough, at one stage we found ourselves counter-balancing our way across a rope bridge that was suspended over a precipice connecting to the next platform.
Also in the picture above, if you look on the right hand top side of the picture you can see the cable that is connecting us from that platform to the next, that can give you a decent idea of the distance between the platforms, that is one of the 14 cable glides that we did. In fact it was the last slide before we reached the half way mark, a comfortable platform that extended to one of the overhands where we could sit down for a while and rest our jelly legs for a bit before carrying on with our journey.
At the end of it all what felt like a crazy succession of moment to moment intervals actually turned out to be hours and hours that we spent on the canopy tour, and although I was extremely grateful to have both feet firmly on solid ground, it was quite sad to know that it had come to an end - the great part is that all three of us made it through the exciting yet nerve wrenching day unscathed (well that is if you take away the strenuous uphill hike that we had to endure in order to make it up to the vehicle that was standing ready to take up back up to the base camp!)
Thank you for sharing this experience with me. I could not have asked for a better day. You and Meggan really made it soooooo special, and I am most grateful. Love you lots!
I see you skipped the fact that we clung to the rock like scared geckos hehehehe!
More like those... or sloppy dog shit that dried on a wool blanket.... or bubblegum in a toddlers hair...
so many comparisons - but yeah I did skillfully elude that fact - I do have a reputation to protect and all that :D
Hehehehehehehehehe!!!!
I love you even more!
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Flag courtesy of your friend @swelker101. Every new day he flags my pal post i will flag one if his lucky friends posts for
https://steemit.com/share2steem/@coininstant/coininstant-1561751052588-coininstants-instagram-feed--20190628-214412
All you're doing is allowing me to counter your vote with a healthy pal vote. I'm sure even you can look at wallets and do math. Lol. Like I said, you're not going to earn anything on Palnet and bully tactics like this just ensure that. Your best bet is to power down and leave the tag.
Spoiler alert: no, he can't do math.
Fuck you @gtg die! I would kill you if I had the chance! My math says you can't subtract 0 from 0! I have 0 here, thus 0 to loose! I'm over it here and pal, I will still post to drain you, and to make you flag me bitch!
Nick, this has been sent to your local authorities.
Good luck.
shut up swelker!
WARNING: IF YOU REPLY TO THIS ACCOUNT YOU WILL BE FLAGGED, YOUR REP HARMED AND ALL OF YOUR REWARDS REMOVED. DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THE TRASH. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
You have 0 here, that's true.
0 to lose is not, because you just went outside of a "here" limits.
Death threats are a serious type of criminal offence in most jurisdictions.
Your island is not an exception.
That is not a death threat, would is not will! lolgo get a life you scared little computer geek! You are no it genius or you would not be wasting time here!
WARNING: IF YOU REPLY TO THIS ACCOUNT YOU WILL BE FLAGGED, YOUR REP HARMED AND ALL OF YOUR REWARDS REMOVED. DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THE TRASH. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Nick, the information has already been sent to multiple authorities.
You will now pay for your actions.
Do you warn Bernie Sanders of the same? Or only people with less than 20k SP who didn't premine with 300+ accounts? Yeah that is what I thought. The old do as we say and not as we do.
GFY
Making blanket statements like that is foolish! I can become a whale! It is not worth it for you to fo that. Free country, do as you will! At this point you are the only one on my list! Not sure how u zero out my pal with not as much, but I’m slowing down my voting so my power grows to counter whatever it is. We don’t have to be enemies, i saw u on marky’s blog so maybe that is why! I looked at wallets, must have missed something there, will re-check!
I’m trying to change my ways, i know i did some wring flags before, if it wasn’t for your flag on me today I would not have flagged anyone! Today I undid a lot of my flags from yesterday! I an reasonable. If you stop flagging me I will even upvote your posts now and then, idk! Maybe be easier for both if us that way.
Only if you buy in and put on your big boy panties. 'Cause it ain't happening by earning anything.
oh i see it now!
wow!
Fine I’m not earning anything on PAL, you win!
I will still post there and stuff, it is 1up from steemit! Guess we’ll just fight forever then!