At the airfield it was too overcast so more waiting. As we started the orientation lecture I was suddenly very nervous (terrified?!), I think that this when it was real. We're doing a tandem jump - basically we're just along for the ride - so the lecture is pretty brief. As the fifteen minute orientation continued I calmed down, purely because of boredom. Then it was time to wait to see if the sky would clear. Two hours later the first patch of blue showed, and it quickly cleared up. The plane could only handle two of us at a time and the way the scheduling was set up two of us could go in the second flight of the day and the other one would have to wait until the fifth or sixth. We odd/evened for who would go first and Dean and I won. It was time to suit up.

The harness was very tight and not too comfortable. They were going to drop the first passengers then land the plane have us hop in and take off immediately so we had to have the gear on for over an hour waiting. Walking was almost impossible, and even just sitting deprived important bits of my anatomy needed blood. Then we were in the plane.

It's a small plane with just a pad in the back. There are five of us besides the pilot. Dean and I, the two instructors, and a solo jumper - it's quite cramped in the back and really too noisy to talk. By this time it's has totally cleared up and the views are stunning: Table Mountain with the cape stretch behind, white sand, and startling aquamarine water. The flight to 9,000 feet took nearly 45 minutes. 45 minutes watching the needle on the altimeter strapped to my wrist slowly creep up. At three thousand feet the ground is a long way off - and then the realization that we're only one third of the way up. At 7,000 feet I take a few final pictures and it's time to get attached to the instructor. At 9,000 feet they open the door and it's even further down when there's nothing between you and the outside.

Dean and his instructor are sitting right in front of the door, and me and my instructor next to them - were facing backwards. The solo flier is is in the very back of the plane - he goes first. This is the strangest part of the entire experience as he just stands up grins and dives head first out the door - over Dean's legs. I expected him to step out on to the rail outside the door, look around then go - it was amazing how absolutely wrong it felt to see this guy go the way he did. Then it was Dean's turn, and quickly it was mine.

It only takes about five seconds to swing your legs outside the plane - then you're falling. I was strapped to the instructor so I didn't have to jump, he's behind me, I'm looking out the door, then I'm falling. Actually, falling isn't the right word - flying is. Besides the bit as you leave the plane - which was so quick that it doesn't even register as more than a blur - there isn't anything close enough to tell you how fast your heading towards the ground. I was very surprised to find that free fall is so peaceful. It's very loud, the exhilaration, the views, and the pure freedom were somehow relaxing. The thirty seconds it takes to fall from 9,000 to 5,000 feet seems more like five seconds.

At five thousand feet the instructor pulls the rip cord and we're no longer falling, now we're gliding. The transition from 200 to 35 km/h is a lot smoother than I expected and what is most shocking is how quiet it suddenly gets. Now is the time to take out the camera, sight see, figure out where Dean is (quite a ways below me), and even grab the controls and practice turns and speed changes. Five very short minutes later and we're landing. This is where it starts to be a little scary as the last couple hundred feet you are suddenly quite aware of how quickly the ground is coming towards you! But a few feet above the ground the instructor pulls back, the speed disappears, and I'm standing on the ground again - no more jolt than stepping off a curb.

It was an incredible experience, and one I know I'll find some way to justify again. Anyone who is not afraid of heights should try it. For the rest of the afternoon I had an adrenaline high. And even now thinking about it gets me amped and sends my thoughts racing.

We spent a few more hours waiting for Craig's turn, then it was back to the hostel. None of us could shut up for the next several hours. I think Joy regrets not going. While we were on our adventure, Margaret (a PCV who just finished her service that we met on the plane from Cameroon) has turned up from Zimbabwe. She and Joy start talking about maybe jumping in a couple days. We were going to go out tonight but as I was watching TV the adrenaline finally burned off and I couldn't keep my eyes open so I decide to bail out. Before going to bed I decide to call home. "e;Mom, guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to go skydiving!" After the violent pretests start to slow down I add "Let me rephrase that, guess what I did do today?" Mom agreed that she'd much rather find out about things like that after the fact. I was on my way to bed, but after talking about the jump I'm totally buzzing again. I decide to go meet the others, and head to Mama Africa for drum music and a couple beers to try and settle down.