One Way Down

If you’re the kind of adrenaline junkie who enjoys jumping off a cliff into a pool of dark water, you’ve probably heard of Suicide Gorge near Grabouw. Now it’s time to do it!

- Eckard Smuts

Going by its name, Suicide Gorge sounds like a place to avoid. What exactly happens there?

It’s with some trepidation that we drive out to the gorge, which is in the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, early on a Saturday morning. Suicide Gorge is a famous kloofing route. Kloofing involves getting down a gorge by any means possible, usually by jumping into river pools from the surrounding cliffs...

Veteran “kloofer” and freelance guide Devin Abrahamson will accompany us. Devin casts a sceptical eye over our clothes. “I don’t usually take people who don’t have wetsuits,” he says as he folds his own wetsuit into a dry bag, along with a first-aid kit. “A wetsuit keeps you warm and provides an extra layer of protection on the rocks and when you jump into the water.”

I look at my worn-out takkies, and tug self-consciously on my T-shirt and knee-length board shorts. My friends and I watched some kloofing videos online and this kit seemed like suitable attire for Suicide Gorge. Now I’m not so sure.

Devin tells us war stories while we wait for one or two stragglers – something about shattered shins... By now my heart is racing.

No turning back

We put our snacks and other gear into dry bags and hit the trail. The hike to the start of the gorge is about 8 km – an easy climb up the fynbos-covered slopes, with a steeper stretch at the end. We meet other hikers along the way – CapeNature allows about 30 people into the gorge per day.