A THAT’S RAP
Claire Keeton and Marianne Schwankhart try a headlong adventure at Shongweni Dam
MOODY skies threatened our plans to go rap jumping at Shongweni Dam and Nature Reserve on a winter morning but, unlike with climbing, it is possible to rappel safely in wet weather. So Marianne and I decided to go ahead, despite the metal-grey clouds on the horizon.
To rap jump, you wear a harness and drop down a rope from a fixed anchor, head-first towards the ground. The more conventional technique of abseiling down a rope requires looking ahead of you with your back parallel to the ground.
Rap jumping was developed by Australian special forces and has been adopted by soldiers worldwide, allowing them to be prepared in hostile terrain and fire guns during a descent — think James Bond or Mission Impossible movies and you’ll get the picture.
From Durban, we drove about 30 minutes northwest to Shongweni Dam, where we had arranged to meet guides from Spirit of Adventure, who could ensure safe access to the dam wall. At their headquarters in this national heritage site, we met our instructor, 39-year-old Sbu Mkhize.
Spirit of Adventure has been operating at Shongweni since 1994 and offers outdoor experiences such as climbing, paddling and mountain biking. Sbu joined as a member of the maintenance crew. A father of three, he moved from maintenance into security and graduated with training into guiding.
Sbu and his assistant drove us down a winding path through forest towards the dam. There, we walked in drizzly conditions up to a wide platform at the top of the dam wall.
The place has the feel of an abandoned fortress with its tower and damp, dark streaks marking the walls.
At a high point of the dam wall, Sbu set up the gear — tying ropes to the wall and backing up the system. We were strapped into the kit which included a modified chest harness as well as a waist harness.
With only one functioning hand after surgery, I was willing to let Sbu feed out the rope and manage my descent, though normally I would control this myself. He told me to climb onto the dam wall and off the other side, overlooking a drop of about 40m.
“Don’t look down,” is the advice we give to friends climbing for the first time who find heights intimidating. But rap jumping requires exactly this: deliberately looking at the space below you on the descent. For this reason, it is seen to be scarier than abseiling.
Clambering onto the wall with one arm in a sling was more daunting than the exposure on the other side for me, but I trusted Sbu and his equipment to lower me smoothly, which they did. From the base of the wall, I walked over to scramble up a rusty metal ladder to the top again.
I went more than once and Marianne also got lowered down and jumped out at the base of the wall. The descent was fun and is sure to be challenging for anyone who isn’t familiar with heights.
Once we’d worked up an appetite, we took a quick drive to Sprigs The Food Shop in Kloof. Run by Fiona and Clare Ras, Sprigs serves fresh, seasonal dishes and has a buffet at lunch time.
The buffet choices vary according to the chefs’ whims. “Our food is defined not only by the seasons of the year, but also by the seasons of our moods,” they state. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, try the brownies.
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