Cape Canopy Tour

Cape Canopy Tour

Cape Canopy Tour is outside of Elgin and about an hour’s drive from Cape Town. We at Dive Inn Cape Town decided it is time to dive into another adventure and we tried out zip lining with Cape Canopy Tour.

They are the 7^th and youngest of the canopy tours branches in South Africa and which are all privately owned. Cape Canopy Tour is situated in the fynbos paradise of the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve and the cost of the tour covers the entry fee to the reserve as well. You will be treated on your way there already with views of the fruit trees in full bloom and lush green valleys.

Friendly staff welcomes you on arrival and will give you a quick tour of the ‘office’ area which includes a small coffee shop where you can buy zippucchino’s.

We were called to the briefing room and were shown a video of what Cape Canopy tour is about, a bit of history and how the zip lining works. Safety is really a big thing with them and we felt safe all the way through. Lonely Planet stated they are the 2^nd best new attraction in the world. Well done guys.

After briefing, signing affidavits, providing e-mail address for the certificate we were kitted out. First was to step into the harness and securing it around your body. Next were gloves (aka handbrake tool) and some helmets. This take a bit off time to ensure the harness fits comfortable and secure, from here we head of to the cruiser for the 30 minute trip up the mountain. For this trip they also renamed it from the boring 4×4 trip rather to the African massage trip as the dirt road is a bit bumpy.

Arriving on the top our 2 guides were waiting for us. A 5 minute walk got us to the first zip line and they briefed us on the process we will follow. Most of us were tentative at first especially about the idea that you have to break with your gloved hand BUT behind the slider and not in front as it will be painful. After the 2^nd slide down into the valley we all got more comfortable and starting enjoying the scenery as we zipped over it. We had various lengths of lines crossing the valley down and even had a suspension bridge we needed to cross. Three quarters down we had an Elgin ice tea break with some choc chip cookies.

Cape Canopy Tour

The reason we felt very safe is that we were clipped onto the cable 3 times, 1st through the bottom of the slider, second through the slide and cable and the last on the cable. This is also done in stages where you are always clipped onto the cable or to cables running along the mountain when you walk from slide to slide. The one guide would go ahead to help you stop on the other side with a stopper placed on the cable and unclip you. After this is done they radio up to the other guide to send the next person down after he/she has been clipped on. A small podium helps the process along.

As we ended our trip the shadows started creeping up into the valleys. From the last Zip we had about a 1km hike out of the valley to where our transfer vehicle was waiting to take us back down the road. A quick stop to look at a rock which looked like a shark was great to see.

Once back down we quickly got out of the harnesses to watch the last 20 minutes of the Springbok game against Wales. A light lunch existing of delicious homemade pie & salad plus a glass of ice tea is included on the tour. Munching our springbok pie and the Springboks winning the game was the perfect end to an amazing experience.

Thank you Cape canopy toursCape Canopy Tour we hope to bring more people back soon.