In case you have no idea what abseiling is all about, it’s the art of lowering yourself safely down a rope. You wear a climbing harness, and are clipped onto the rope with some manner of descending device (there are lots of different ones, and they all have technical names, which you’ll either know already or not understand, anyway).

Abseiling Kaaimans Gorge

©Kelvin Saunders – Eden Adventures

You then walk backwards down the cliff face (or dam wall or enemy headquarters, or whatever) supported by the rope, slowly lowering yourself down, enjoying the scenery en route. Most commercial abseils are belayed, which means they’re almost idiot-proof. If you were to just let go in panic, the trip leader could safely lower you down remotely, either from above or below. It’s also quite likely that there’ll be a decent section of overhang, so you get to spend some time just hanging out, admiring the view. For something a tad more extreme – rapp jumping is abseiling with the climbing ropes attached at your back instead of your tummy, so you go down face first – usually running. Not for the faint of heart. One of our most spectacular abseils is on Table Mountain. The actual abseil is only about 100m high but you’re hanging out about a kilometre above the city – which is great if you want to check out the scenery, but a tad scary if you’re really not good with heights.

Table Mountain abseil

©South African Tourism

Also with fantastic views and close to Cape Town is a combination abseiling/kloofing trip along the Steenbras River Gorge, where you get to jump into deep pools and abseil down a waterfall. You could abseil down another pretty waterfall on the beautiful Kaaimans River, which is a landmark near the Garden Route town of Wilderness. There are three abseil routes on the spectacular western head at Knysna – including a really high, very exposed site hanging right out over the crashing waves – a pretty abseil at Oribi Gorge, on the KZN South Coast, a nice scenic one next to Howick Falls, near Pietermaritzburg, one over Sabie Falls, near the town of Sabie and another at Hazyview, both of which are in Mpumalanga, and another fun abseil at Hartebeespoort Dam in North West Province, near Johannesburg. For an urban adventure of note, you can rapp jump off skyscrapers in Johannesburg. There are also fun abseils in Swaziland and at Vic Falls, on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia. The small country of Lesotho, which lies entirely within South Africa’s borders, has the highest commercial abseil in the world. It’s 204m high. Try that if you dare.

To book Kloofing and Abseiling tours along the Garden Route contact:
Chris & Louise Leggatt at Eden Adventures
Mobile: 083 628 8547
Tel & Fax: +27 44 877 0179
Email: tours@eden.co.za

Trad climbing on Table Mountain

©South African Tourism

And if you’re prepared to travel a few hours from the city, you’ll be overwhelmed by the choice. Montagu, about 4 hours east, is a sport climbers paradise, the Cederberg, a couple of hours north of the city, is a great hiking destination, but it also has some wonderful trad climbing.

Trad climbing Namibia’s Spitzkoppe

©GAIA

Not to be outdone, Durban is also up there with good climbing cities. OK – it doesn’t have a mountain in the middle of the city but there are some awesome sport climbing venues about an hour from town. The Wave Cave at Shongweni has a mind-blowing number of high grade sport climbs. Also in KwaZulu-Natal, the Drakensberg is a great trad climbing venue and, in winter, the frozen waterfalls offer South Africa’s only ice climbing. Waterval Boven’s Restaurant at the end of the Universe at  is another sport climbing mecca.

Hiking in the Cederberg

©South African Tourism

With hundreds of bolted routes ranging from a nice 12 to a hard-core 33, there is something for everyone. For the hard-core trad climber, the Blouberg in Limpopo has some nice big walls in the middle of nowhere.

Beyond South Africa’s borders, Malawi’s Mount Mulanje has some really big walls – at 1,700m (which over a mile) it’s the longest route in Africa. Namibia’s Spitzkoppe, which is an enormous granite pluton rising up from the plains, has both natural and bolted routes ranging from about 14 to 24.

Trad climbing the route Moke – Upper Tonquani

©South African Tourism

If you’re not a climber and you’re wondering about the jargon, sport climbing involves climbing on existing routes, with permanent bolts into which you can clip, while traditional or naturally protected climbing consists of putting in temporary protection as you climb up the rock face, and then removing it. Bolting is only allowed in certain areas, and existing protocol must be adhered to.

Useful Links:

Mountain Club Of South Africa
Climb ZA
SA Mountain Magazine

Abseiling into the Kaaimans River

©Kelvin Saunders – Eden Adventures

By its very nature, kloofing takes place in a relatively high risk area, a river gorge, deep in the mountains so, although it’s a whole load of fun, it can be dangerous – particularly as the whole point of kloofing, really, is to leap over waterfalls or cliffs into (hopefully deep) pools. And the best – or worst, depending on your point of view – part is that most kloofing or canyoning trips involve a point of no return. Some kloofs, or canyons, may also include a bit of scrambling and perhaps an abseil or two. If you really know what you’re doing, you can do this on your own but kloofing is best done with a knowledgeable guide or at least someone who’s done the river before.

Kaaimans kloofing

©Kelvin Saunders – Eden Adventures

No matter how experienced you are, you’ve no way of knowing how deep the water 10m below you is – particularly in the Western Cape, where the water is the colour of cola and it looks the same whether it’s a metre deep or 10m deep.

In the Western Cape, Suicide Gorge and the Riviersonderend Gorge, both of which involve quite high compulsory jumps, can be done as an escorted trip. Closer to Cape Town, the Steenbras River is a combined abseiling/kloofing trip. Actually, it’s not really kloofing as you walk up the river, doing optional jumps into deep pools and then brave a 65m abseil over a beautiful waterfall, but it’s a lot of fun and is perfect to try out the whole idea as you can chicken out if you like. A rather fun trip on the Kaaimans River, near Wilderness on the Garden Route, involves an abseil, a couple of semi-abseils, where you are belayed down tricky sections, and a fun swim through a waterfall. The Ratel River, on the farm Beaverlac, near the Western Cape town of Porterville, which is close to the Cederberg, is a fun river for self-guided kloofing.

Abseiling into Nuy gorge

©Simonskloof Mountain Retreat

There is a guided, overnight adventure kloofing trip on the Nuy River near Montagu in the Western Cape. It has all the usual ingredients plus sleeping under the stars and cooking on an open fire.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Mfongosi River, near Eshowe, is renowned for very high, very steep rockslides – quite an adrenaline rush – and definitely the most extreme of the kloofing experiences on offer, but it’s a very scenic spot and the best part is – none of the jumps or slides are compulsory. The Sabie River, near the Mpumalanga town of Sabie, is the site of a couple of fun escorted kloofing trips and there are some self-guided kloofing or canyoning trips in the Drakensberg.

Getting wet is an integral part of kloofing so it’s generally much more fun in summer, and some kloofing trips are closed through the winter.

To book for Kloofing and Abseiling in the Garden Route contact:
Chris & Louise Leggatt at Eden Adventures
Mobile: 083 628 8547
Tel & Fax: +27 44 877 0179
Email: tours@eden.co.za

FriXion Adventures run exclusive kloofing trips in the Limietberg ravine just 85 kms from Cape Town with abseils down six waterfall ranging from 15 to 50 meters.
Tel: 021 447 4985
Scott 082 378 8853
Brett 082 855 6271
Email: info@frixion.co.za