Day 24: Wednesday April 7th 2004. Spent the rest of the day chatting to Ralph about life, universe - everything. We crossed the border late at night and stopped shortly after for a sleep break. The journeys total should be about 28 hours...
Day 25: Thursday April 8th 2004. Having exhausted all avenues for conversation with Ralph we spent the last couple of hours of the journey in a contemplative atmosphere. I was dropped off in the suburbs of Capetown, and so had to take a terrifying combi ride to the city centre. From the central bus station I called a few backpackers hostels, only to find them all full due to the Easter weekend. Eventually I called Ashanti, who had space and a free pickup from the bus station - sorted!
 |
| The view from the bar |
 |
| Ashanti Backpackers |
Ashanti turned out to be an ever-so-slightly crumbling, utterly charming old colonial house set in The Gardens, City Bowl, Capetown, just near the backpacker orientated Long Street. A long hot shower preceded a couple of beers and an early night.
Day 26: Friday April 9th 2004. Started the day with tea, croissants and a smoke on the balcony with Andy, an ex-Brightonian I had met the previous day. I then went to check out Long Street, but everything was shut due to Easter and the elections next week - the whole country seems to have stopped! I found an internet cafe, and booked up for the skydiving, which I re-confirmed later by phone. Now I'm getting scared!
Day 27: Saturday April 10th 2004. After a bit of hectic last minute transport organisation, I got to the Skydive Capetown drop zone in time for the introductory lecture. The rain put pay to any ideas about a first jump today.
Back at Ashanti, I met Scots Chris and Irish Patrick, so the Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman went on the lash. Properly!
Day 28: Sunday April 11th 2004. With a hangover from hell, I went in for my first jumps. The planes are 40 year old Cessnas, held together with duct tape and probably a good deal of hope! The first jump was a simple static line type - i.e. no freefall, just a parachute ride down from 4000ft. Then it was time for my first freefall, but not until after I had watched Munro (also doing his AFF) have to cut away (i.e. loose his main canopy due to a malfunction, and pull his reserve chute). The cut away left Munro a bit spun out, and he lost control of his (faster) emergency chute, hitting the side of the hanger just before landing. He was lucky to come away with just a few cuts and bruises. Obviously, this did very little for my confidence!
 |
| Munro left his mark |
My first jump went well, with an amazing view of Table mountain, Capetown, the West coast and the mountains in the interior at sunset to appreciate on the way up. I found myself getting a bit anxious on the way up in the plane, a feeling that got worse as I climbed out the aeroplane door. I found that the anxiety disappeared the minute I exited the plane. The freefall was over in a flash, but I managed to complete my exercises (check left, check altimeter, check right, check altimeter again, etc). I have hit my personal limits here, and am pushing my own boundaries - I have finally found them!
Day 29: Monday April 12th 2004. AFF day 3. My first jump today totally stoked me. I had to fly forwards for the count of five, by simply straightening my legs and moving my arms to the crucifix position - the delta - wow! I had one instructor holding on to me from each side, and as I took up the position they disappeared from my peripheral vision at I literally towed them across the sky. Utterly awesome!
The second jump of the day involved a turning exercise (90 degrees left) and an unassisted landing. I didn't perform well, landing in the bush, and needing help recovering my canopy from a tree! This jump was AFF level 3, and I passed by the skin of my teeth...
 |
| Skydiving |
Day 30: Tuesday April 13th 2004. A clear head this morning made for a less hectic start to the day. The first jump was lots of fun. A girl doing her tandem jumped before me, screaming her head off from about 6000ft up to 11000ft (and probably all the way down as well!) I didn't manage to get a stable position on my own, and as a result failed level 4. Boo. Once again I landed in the bush, but this time I managed to steer myself onto a dirt track, thus avoiding getting the canopy (or myself) stuck in the trees again. It turned out it wasn't my fault I had missed the drop zone - the wind was tricky, and the tandem had landed by the runway, quite a distance from the drop zone.
For my second jump I did my best to arch but my form was still out, with my legs trying to 'swim' in the air! Failed level 4 again, but at least landed on the drop zone this time... I WILL get my form sorted out.
Day 31: Wednesday April 14th 2004. Got a lift to the DZ with James, who I met last night at Ashanti. A thick sea fog prevented jumping for the first few hours, and so James went off, having not done the tandem he was thinking about. I jumped and failed level 4 again - to say I had the hump is an understatement. Jako, my instructor, has kindly offered to take his fee off my next attempt, bringing the price down a fair bit, which is greatly appreciated. I still decide to call it a day for today, and head back to Ashanti for Peking duck and a bag of green to lift my spirits.
Day 32: Thursday April 15th 2004. Rainy day in Capetown. No jumping today. Ho Hum. Bar in eve.
Day 33 : Friday April 16th 2004. More rainy days - worked on website, went shopping. Bar in eve.
Day 34: Saturday April 17th 2004. Rain. Having failed level 4 no less than three times, and sat around waiting for the rain to stop for 3 days, I'm starting to get a bit pissed off. Fortune comes in threes... Bar in eve.
 |
| Rainy days in Capetown - Table mountain from Ashanti backpackers |
Day 35: Sunday April 18th 2004. Clear weather - at last! Oh yeah, got level 4 licked. Then level 5. Then level 6. Level 6 was incredible - I had to do a forward roll out of the plane, two 360 degree turns in each direction, a backwards roll and a 5 second delta, all within 35 seconds. Fun, fun, fun. I think I'm into this sport for life!
Day 36: Monday April 19th 2004. Again foiled by the weather - this time too much wind. So went to Robben Island, Nelson Mandela's prison for 18 years, with James and some girls he had met. I saw the tiny cell where Nelson Mandela had spent most of his time over his 18 year stretch, and the quarry he had worked in that the glare from had caused his cataracts (i.e. the condition he had operated on in 1994). What really impressed me was the culture of education the prisoners had nurtured there, with many of today's top South African politicians gaining the knowledge for their 1st degrees whilst incarcerated there, despite an active policy of no education by the prison governors and wardens.
 |
 |
| Prison | Mandela's cell |
 |
 |
| Quarry | Capetown |
The view back to the mainland told the story of why no-one ever escaped - rough seas over rocks, coupled with the threat of Great White sharks. Scary stuff!
Day 37: Tuesday April 20th 2004. Completed AFF level 8.
Day 38: Wednesday April 21st 2004. Day off. Went for a walk and found Companies gardens, a delightful oasis of trees and wildlife right on my doorstep!
 |
| Squirel at Companies Gardens |
Day 39: Thursday April 22nd 2004. Completed AFF! Celebrations!
Day 40: Friday April 23rd 2004. Started BOC (bottom of container) conversion course. This involves using a non-student rig - i.e. more comfortable harness, smaller, more manoeuvrable canopy and no rip cord - you just literally throw the pilot chute out from it's pouch on the bottom of the canopy container. Landed in a tree (again!) and managed to tear the canopy. Oops. Spent the afternoon taking pictures, since I had no rig to jump.
 |
| Munro |
That evening was the annual Skydive Capetown Braai - a pleasant evening mixing with all the people I'd been jumping with. Heartfelt congratulations were given to us newly passed AFF students. The photos are available here.
Day 41: Saturday April 24th 2004. Hazy days at Ashanti. Three of us (skydivers: Aussie Dave, English Morton and myself) managed to get up Table mountain, despite hangovers. Was very glad of cable car. The plan was to abseil back down the mountain, but when we got up there, it turned out to be a very short (100M) decent, and you had to walk back up to get the cable car down - bullshit. I was amused to find the other two suffering from vertigo when we came to take pictures of the view - it's strange, but a lot of skydivers seem to suffer from the condition!
 |
 |
 |
| Capetown view | The city bowl | South down the Cape |
 |
||
| Panorama | ||
 |
 |
 |
| Mountain Lizard | View down cablecar | Rock Hyrax or Dassie |
Day 42: Sunday April 25th 2004. Not a lot! Getting into a lazy routine here now.
Day 43: Monday April 26th 2004. The 190 chute has been repaired, so it's time for the last day's jumping. I tried all sorts of tricks, including a 'superman' with my wrists crossed in an attempt to corkscrew through the air - tricky. I kept ending up spinning out of the corkscrew and onto my back!
I am now ready for the next stage - jumping with someone else, and getting some formations going, a training program called ISP. I'll not do it until I am sure it's globally recognised, as it's a whole lot more money, and I've already overspent!
Day 44: Tuesday April 27th 2004. Hangover. Shane the barman's leaving night. Messy!
Day 45: Wednesday April 28th 2004. Too many hangovers, too much city life! Time for some countryside...
Day 46: Thursday April 29th 2004. Finally left Capetown for somewhere chilled on the Garden Route.