I first came across “Geckoing” while on honeymoon in Hazyview, a little town in the heart of the Mpumalanga Lowveld, near the Kruger National Park. My hubby and I are both quite adventurous and had specifically tightened the wedding budget so that we could splurge on some extra honeymoon activities, so our first stop in Hazyview was to the local tourism information centre where we grabbed a bunch of pamphlets, brochures, and a map. After discovering an exciting list of things to do in the area (which was clearly not as sleepy as we thought), we eventually settled on our top 3 activities, one of which was Geckoing.
I have yet to understand how the activity got its name, because it has nothing to do with dinky reptiles. Geckoing is actually a combination of white water tubing and kloofing – jumping off high rock cliffs into pools of rushing water. Thrilling, indeed! We started off at Induna Adventures, who offer a variety of adventure activities, teambuilding packages, and adventure sport training camps. Surrounded by rolling hills, gorges, rivers, and unspoilt indigenous forests, they have the perfect “Natural Adventure Park” setting on the Panorama Route. The staff were great and had us quickly kitted out with life jackets and helmets. Once the group of both local and foreign adrenalin junkies was assembled, we clambered into a safari truck and headed off to a nearby banana plantation to begin our adventure in the chilly waters of the Sabie River. Our guide was hilarious and kept us well informed and entertained along the way.
Geckoing was extremely fun and not difficult to do, so I would highly recommended it for anyone who doesn’t mind the odd bump, scrape, and bruise. We shared plenty of laughter, shrieks, water fights, and paddle races. Nerves never stood a chance of setting in with our friendly group of strangers egging each other on!
I discovered a few things about Geckoing:
- Make sure your helmet fastens properly. Mine was dodgy and popped off on every rock jump!
- Enjoy the refreshing river waters, because the uphill hike from the river banks through the plantation is exhaustingly hot (although you are rewarded with a fruit juice).
- Listen to your guides. When they tell you to avoid the right hand side of the river at such and such a point, it’s generally because they know you will get stuck and will look like a buffoon trying to get out of the current. Trust me.
- Don’t brag about having done white water rafting before. One couple did this and ended up being the most overly cautious of the lot.
- Go during the summer months, when the river is full, because the rocks have no mercy.
- If you bring shoes, you will have to shove them into your life jacket. If you don’t bring shoes, your feet will hate you on the walk out of the plantation. My suggestion: wear rubber slops.
- Don’t wear white.
- Buy the CV/DVD of photos that is offered by Induna Adventures. You won’t be able to take your own camera, but the guides take some great action shots for you to remember the day.
- Leave all your jewellery at home/accommodation.
- Don’t assume you can swim anywhere along the river. It is rife with crocs and hippos, but the white water areas are safe.
- It’s addictive!
What adventure activities do you recommend?
