Is the Victoria Falls bungee jump safe?
UPDATE: I have received clarification from Safari Par Excellence that they are merely a booking agent for the operators of the Victoria Falls bungee jump. As such they have no operational control over the jump itself. Apparently the Zambia Post article got that part wrong. Apologies for any confusion.
UPDATE: There’s video of Erin Langworthy’s failed jump, including an interview with the survivor. Lucky girl!
Life is full of risk. The key is to differentiate effectively between risks that are worthwhile and risks that are unnecessary. Having done a bungee jump once before, I hold the opinion that an occasional rush of adrenaline can be just what a person needs to break out of the hard-to-escape patterns and habits that dominate our daily lives.
The drop from the Victoria Falls Bridge plunges adventurers about 300 feet toward the quickly moving Zambezi River below. I waffled a bit, mainly because of the $120 cost at the end of a month-long trip around Southern Africa. In the end I decided that embracing the mixture of fear, joy an adrenaline would be a good way to start a new year, especially one for which I have significant hopes and plans.
Having confirmed the jump for the next morning, I headed out for dinner in Livingstone. About halfway into town, my friendly cab driver Owen started talking – unprompted by me – about an accident that had taken place three days earlier at the Victoria Falls Bridge jump site. A 22-year old Australian girl had made a jump, rebounded normally, and then found herself in a free fall toward the Zambezi when the bungee cord gave way at the apex of the second bounce. She fell about 60 feet into the fast moving river and managed to swim to the Zimbabwean side, where local police rushed her to a clinic for medical treatment. She was later evacuated to South Africa for further treatment.
I’m not a big believer in fate, but I also couldn’t ignore the new information. I was determined to continue with my jump until I read an article in the local newspaper about the incident.
Said the Zambian Post:
“The rope bungee code [sic] cut whilst going down but she managed to swim to the Zimbabwean side. She was treated at Victoria Falls clinic in Zimbabwe and evacuated to South Africa,” Muntemba said.
And a National Heritage Conservation Commission source who spoke on condition of anonymity, said NHCC, the custodians of the Victoria Falls and the bridge, had difficulties getting the truth from the bungee jumping expedition management.
“The incident happened on Saturday and the female Australian was saved by quick action by Zimbabwean policemen who have access to the bottom of the gorge using a staircase. It’s like these people bungee management don’t want the incident to leak out to the public. But I have heard that bungee management has been ordered to report to Victoria Falls police station to give a statement,” the NHCC source said.”
Without much sensitivity, the tour operator then released a statement titled, “Bungee cord breaks but no damage done”. Apparently their investigation into the incident lasted a whole 24 hours, after which jumps resumed as if nothing had happened.
Activities like bungee jumping are fundamentally about trust. I don’t know a thing about bungee cords, but I expect that – as my life is in their hands – the bungee operator does, and will apply that expertise to every single jump they oversee. I found it disturbing that Safari Par Excellence did not cooperate fully with the investigation by Zambia’s National Heritage Conservation Commission. This is an instance where full disclosure and cooperation would have benefited the company far more than an attempt to suppress news of the incident among foreign tourists.
Without the trust promoted by an open, transparent company, I lost the faith that Safari Par Excellence would put my safety above its financial interest. The risk of the jump therefore became an unnecessary one, and I cancelled my booking. To their credit, the company refunded my money immediately and without hesitation.
I hope Safari Par Excellence conducts a thorough investigation into the incident and adapts its safety procedures to ensure safe jumps every time. In the meantime, approach the Victoria Falls Bridge bungee jump with care.
