And if your friend jumps off a bridge, do you also jump?

3... 2... 1... bungee!

The moment those words were said and I jumped off the Bloukrans Bridge was possibly the scariest moment in my life.

I decided this year to go bungee jumping as it was one of those things people always say has to be on your bucket list. After much planning, I finally went the day after my 21st birthday. That wasn’t the best idea because the night of my birthday I went out and had a considerable amount to drink (as one does when one celebrates a birthday at Rhodes). The morning of the jump, I felt sick. No prizes for guessing why. We set off at 6am and after having no sleep at all I felt like death. I wasn’t at all scared of jumping off Bloukrans, despite the fact that it is the largest bridge in Africa and the highest commercial bridge bungee in the world. My biggest fear was that while soaring through the air I would rather spectacularly throw up (yes, you really needed to imagine that).

We arrived an hour early and were given the option to jump immediately. What the hell, I thought, we may as well. To get to the middle of the bridge to jump, we had to walk the length of half the bridge on a walkway that allowed you to see below. At this point I started feeling dizzy and had to keep telling myself to not look down. But I never listen to anything, not even myself, and so I continuously looked down as I walked and proceeded to scare the shit out of myself.

After what felt like the longest, most torturous walk, we reached the middle of the bridge where we were briefed on the jump. Out of the group of six, I was the second person to jump. Despite the huge smile on my face, I was at this point rather nervous. While being strapped to the harness I asked a million questions, all of which were rather embarrassingly caught on video. “Are you sure this is safe? Can this rope be broken? What happens if the part tied around my ankle slips off?” Of course I knew this wouldn’t be allowed if it wasn’t safe, but I had watched many videos of failed bungee jumps beforehand to get the excitement flowing and now they were coming back to me.

Finally, I was taken to the edge of the bridge to jump and I finally got a glimpse of the view down. Holy mother of beans, it was the scariest sight. I kept saying no, I can't do this, but at that point it was too late to back out.

Before I knew it they had counted down and I jumped. For the first few seconds I completely let go and screamed. With my long black hair trailing behind me and my screams echoing in the distance, I must have resembled a banshee.

I cannot describe the thrill and the complete ecstasy of that jump. I felt incredibly free. It was so good to let go and know that despite the fear and the appearance of danger I was still safe. And the best part of it all? I didn’t throw up.

"Fear is temporary. Regret is forever"

Most moments with Darsha are crazy but this has to be the best of them all.