It had to be on a special day when I was invited to take part at the Maboneng Rap Jump, 25 May “Africa day”. Yes, I’m one of those proud and brave Africans that can jump from anywhere… like anywhere literally, well that’s if someone else has done it before and I do my calculated risk taking.
Even though I’m quite crazy about extreme sports and lots of Nat Geo risk taking events, I must say it was my first time to hear about Rap Jumping and without thinking about it I just took it on. Well, this is where you literally go on top of a very high building and jump or climb down using a rope and a harness, face down.
I was very excited to finally take part in some extreme sporting event but when I saw the first guy do it, I honestly had second thoughts , then I just switched and put on my Rambo/ Bear Grylls and I was like … Bring it on. I had the instructors put on my Harness “which was too tight and I felt slightly beyond safe and yah… I felt the threat on my manhood. The next step was getting on a lift to the 10th floor and at that point I felt like some American soldier on some Apache plane to some war zone in the Middle East “you never know if you will go back home”. When we got to the top I realized it had hit the fan.
Just before the Rap Jump, instructors did all the security and safety checks, took us through some little tutorial on how to handle things while we jump. Then there I was at the edge of a ten storey building and looking down. For a minute I wanted to turn back and chicken out but with my passion for extreme sports and doing something at that level of risk plus the ladies watching me I just had to put on my grip and do it.
Before I knew it the instructor was like “Left foot forward first, right foot next, shoulders forward … then JUMP! I almost peed on myself because it felt like committing suicide but as I went on I got less scared and before I knew it the instructor was catching me on ground level. That was my first jump which they call the basic jump. With my second Jump I did what they call the “Angel”, which is jumping and letting go of everything with your arms and legs spread out like and Angel, the feeling was so amazing. It is not like diving into water or anything like that, its way beyond that, one has to do it to understand it. I did my final jump which was meant to be the MF “Mind Freak or something like that” as they call it but I did not do it because it is a little complex and better off done from a higher building. So I did my Angel jump again and I must say I felt like quite the pro because people walking around the streets looked at me like I was Tom Cruise in a movie set.
When I finished doing my jumps I honestly did not want to get out of my Harness because I have never felt so cool in such a long time, though getting out of that Harness was a huge relief because that thing is so tight and for a male person I think is quite the jail.
I had a very good experience doing the Rap jump, now I cannot wait to do it on a higher building and hopefully do more sports of that nature. Above all I would really rate it as one of the best things a person can do for an extreme good time. It’s nice, fun filled and thrilling. Every Human being should do it if they can ….what are we alive for?
Social Jozi, an urban community-driven group of social adventurers who want to meet people and experience something new and it happens monthly. Check out their website for their next event socialjozi.com
