Why Wouldn't You Want To Chuck Yourself Out Of An Airplane?

Jasmien and I had arranged for Cesar, Paolo, Nico and us to get a ride to Grahamstown where we would fly like birds.  And by fly, I mean fall.  We all ran down the sizzling hot, paved hill and across the soft, sandy beach.  We were meeting the man who would drive us to G-town at Buccaneers Backpackers.  A long river snaked out to meet the ocean dividing the beach we stood on and the beach the backpackers resided on.


 Thankfully it wasn't high tide and we didn't have to strip down to the bare essentials to cross the cool waters.  Previous nights coming back from the bar at Bucc's had been a whole other story.  We were running late to meet the man, so we tried to up the acceleration.  However, we were with two Brazilians...and they have a reputation for taking their sweet little time.  Ten minutes later, we made it to the reception at Bucc's where we sped off down the rocky, uneven road all packed in a car.  One South African, one Belgian, two Brazilians, and me, and meeting up with one Swiss man at the destination.  The drive usually takes about two hours, however, for us it took almost three due to the frequent cigarette stops that the South African driver depended on.  Many conversations about what was wrong with the South African government and what the driver's life had been like the past several years later, we arrived in Grahamstown at the skydiving bunkhouse.  As we drove in, we could see a few  last jumpers from the day coming in for a landing.  What a perfect time to fall from the sky; sunset.

For the rest of the night, the guys at the skydiving house showed us a good time by cooking a braai (barbecue), taking a few shots of a Brazilian tequila that Paolo brought, then hitting the town.

Morning welcomed us with bright blue skies, without a cloud in sight.  Perfect!  Nico showed up ready to jump. By 10ish a.m. we were starting.  First, Paolo and Cesar went up.  The anticipation was eating me alive, I was so excited.  Jasmien was starting to get a bit nervous.  Finally it was our turn.  As we were getting strapped in, our tandem jumping partners were filling us in on how all this goes.  "Just do the banana and keep your head back on my shoulder or else when we jump you might head-but me and I'll get knocked out.  Then you're on your own." So...banana.  Got it!
Once we were at the plane, we got a couple more instructions from the experienced jumpers.  As I climbed into the extremely small plane, I noticed a bit of duct tape.  "Oh, it's fine.  Just holding the wing on," said one of the guys.  We all chuckled, however, Jasmien's laugh had some nervous shake to it.
6,000 feet up, we released a man from the plane that appeared to the eye as Jack Sparrow.  His dreads went into a hulla dance as he fell to earth.
10,000 feet up, Jasmien and her instructor inched to the edge of the plane.  She dangled wide-eyed strapped onto the man that was now in charge of her life.  "Wait! I think something's broken!" she screamed out.  Then, boom, they were gone, letting gravity play with their bodies.

  I was next.  Fortunately, there was a camera man that had flown up with us.  My instructor said if I smiled and asked nicely, I could get some free photos out of this jump as well.  So of course, I did.  Next thing I know, I'm flipping in mid-air watching the plane disappear out of sight.  Then, we fall into a steady free fall for about 45 seconds.  I look up and the camera man is directly in front of us snapping photos every five seconds.  As I look through the photos now, I feel a bit sorry for my instructor, for I'm giving him a full fledged beard with my hair and maybe a little bit of an annoying tickle.  Oh well, after the 45 or so seconds the parachute opened and we dangled over the earth, gliding down from the sky.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  Once we had landed, I wanted   to get back up there again.  That's the life.

Free fallin'

Post jump