ABSEILING HERMANUS, SOUTH AFRICA

There are so many adventure sports to choose from around Hermanus, Cape Town and within the Western Cape that you will be on an adrenaline high for your whole holiday in South Africa.

Abseiling is just one of these, that thankfully requires no previous experience when you are with a company that specialises in this great activity.

They provide all the gear, including your waist harness (important), loads of ropes (more important) and your hand stopping device (even more important).

So all you need to do is find a big vertical cliff to abseil off and away you go.

Hermanus Old Harbour at Gearings Point is a perfect spot for abseiling, as it’s not too high (about 20 metres) and has marvelous views across Walker Bay and between June and December there will be Southern Right Whales splashing about too.

So while the professionals set up all the ropes correctly, strapping them to something extremely solid, heavy and large, like big metal hoops struck into massive pieces of concrete, you start to put on your harness to make sure it as comfortable as possible, put on a helmet and a pair of gloves, while smiling like a Cheshire cat.

As you might guess, this activity is best done with many others, so corporate team building events are perfect for this.

Ok it’s your turn, you approach the cliff edge slightly nervously, turn around so that you have the cliff drop behind you and strap yourself onto the firmly secured rope at your waist harness. Also you attach a hand grip to the rope which acts as your brake. You then gingerly venture over the edge, with your legs out straight horizontally and feet on the vertical side of the cliff and your body at a slightly horizontal position too.

Here is where co-ordination is important. As you spring off with leg thrusts, you release the hand grip and as you descend and come back towards the cliff face, you clench the hand grip to stop you falling any further. This you do until you are at the bottom of the cliff face.

With a huge smile on your face and a new found faith, you zoom back up to the top of the cliff, eagerly awaiting your next turn.

As there are so many mountains in the Hermanus area, abseiling is a sport that can be done nearly anywhere that has a vertical cliff face.

 

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