Zipping along 10 zip lines in one trip was a wild intro to the world of zip line adventures. But that's what you get when you take the Zip Line Adventure at Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park in South Africa. (Adrenalin junkies note: When you've done this, head over to Bloukrans Bridge and do the bungie jump.)

Heart-pounding Zip Line Adventure

Heart pounding so loud I could hear it as well as feel the throbs, I grabbed my harness with one hand, put the other over the guide wire and leaped into thin air.

Zipping along 90 feet above the ground, it only took a few seconds to approach the platform on the far tree. Climbing aboard, my first thought was "Only nine more to go, before I can place my feet on solid earth again."

But, with each zipline -they varied in length up to 300 feet when we were encouraged to yell- my tension dissolved and my enjoyment increased. While some of my friends loved to look down at the South African forest below, being acrophobic, I chose to look up at sky and the treetops surrounding me. By the time our guide started shaking the wire so I bounced up and down as I zipped along the last line, I was laughing so hard I staggered up on the final platform.

The Zip Line Adventure Is Run By Ecotourism Company

The Zipline Adventure is run by Storm Rivers Adventures, an eco-tourism company that is committed to local entitlement, so many of the people working there live in nearby communities. With the company's commitment to sustaining the environment, all of the platforms have been built without using nails.

The wires and the platforms are all attached to the trees with ropes that have pieces of wood inserted between the ropes and trees, so the trees won't be damaged. Storm Rivers Adventures also runs the Tsitsikamma Forest Tour, a woodcutters journey through the forest.

Tsitsikamma is an Adrenalin Junkies Heaven

Action lovers congregate in South Africa's Tsitsikama Coastal National Park because after the zip line adventure you can leap off the highest commercial bungy jump in the world. If you spend the night in one of the cabins perched high on the rocks, you'll see breakers crashing against the shore tossing spray 15-feet in the air. The next day, you can go scuba diving in the Indian Ocean and take a jet boat ride up the Storms River.

This gorgeous national park is located about an hour and a half's drive from Port Elizabeth in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. Tsitsikamma stretches from a rocky stretch of the Indian Ocean coastline to 90-foot high pines in temperate forests.

Contact Info for Tsitsikamma National Park

For more information about the park visit Tsitsikamma. For more information about the zipline tour visit Tsitsikamma Canopy Tours. For more information about the bungy jump and other high-flying adventures visit Face Adrenalin.

Find Zip Line Adventures Around the World

Zip lines adventures keep growing in popularity. Once you had to travel to Costa Rica, Thailand, South Arica or other exotic countries to go on a zipline, but today there are zip lines around the globe. Click on Top Zipline Adventures to see if there is one near you, or one in the locale you're planning to explore on your next trip.

More Adventure Travel in South Africa

South Africa is an adventure traveler's paradise. Here, you can experience zipling, bungy jumping, shark cage diving, scuba diving, bike riding among vineyards, kloofing and many other adventures. For more adventure travel in South Africa visit South Africa Adventure Travel