Oribi Gorge

Ian's 30 storey free-fall (Click on to enlarge, back arrow to return)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oribi Gorge is situated along the spectacular forest-cloaked ravine of the Mzimkulwana river just west of Port Shepstone which itself is 120 km south of Durban. Oribi Gorge is the eastern gorge of two gorges that cuts through the Oribi Flats (flat sugarcane farmlands), southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The western gorge was formed by the Mzimkulu river. At the base of the cliffs of both gorges there are rocks over 1000 million years old while the cliffs themselves are formed from sandstone deposited about 365 million years ago. Below the gorges is a large surface mine producing cement. The road through Oribi Gorge was built by Italian prisoners of war.

Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve

Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve is situated in the Oribi Gorge, which is approximately 27 km long, 4 km wide (widest point) and 400 m deep. In 1950 it was proclaimed a protected state forest.

Whew! Cut and Paste saved me a lot of writing. 

The hotel where we stayed is a former farmhouse. The POW connection mentioned above is ironic. The road was built by Italian prisoners and the farm was bought after the war by a South African who himself was held prisoner during WW2 ...  by the Italians. The hotel was rustic, comfortable and in a quiet peaceful setting. One night it poured with rain and when the wind came up the tall trees outside our room sounded like huge waves crashing on rocks - but on fast forward. 

The cheap cell phone I bought in Cape Town hadn't been working for awhile. Several people had tried to fix it. I asked Bradley, the young son of the managers of the hotel, if he could. He popped out the SIM card, reinserted it and bada bing! It took 30 seconds. The take away lesson - ask someone under 20.

 Lee, a Wild 5 crew member,  makes it look easy

K's at the bow shooting video with the "action-cam"

One of the attractions of the Oribi Gorge Hotel is its connection to the Wild Five Extreme Adventures. I white water rafted, zip-lined and Ian even jumped off a 400 foot cliff!     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8RopEff3Ac

The nice thing about the white water rafting was how refreshing it was to get drenched by the water. I don't think the same could be said for the Fraser or Thompson Rivers.

Before we left on this trip I was listening to CBC Spark - you know,  Nora Young with the beautiful voice. There was a short piece about South Africans working the carny circuit in the USA and how social media is such a boon for them while they are away from home. Luke, the manager of Wild Five, was a carny for nine months touring around America.

Another connection I forgot to mention in my last post is that the manager of our B&B in Durban has a brother who lives on Bowen Island.