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Having arrived early evening we congregated on the roof terrace of our hotel, signed up for a bridge swing (why???) and rafting the next day, and were treated to an unexpected Carnival fireworks display from the main square. After dinner and a couple of beers with Tom, Clair, Ang and Mash I retired to prepare for the next days excitement. After a restless night myself, Flo and Anna set off bright and early (minus breakfast for obvious reasons) for our bridge swing which was a first for all three of us! To say it was nerve racking would be an understatement which wasn't helped in any shape or form by my fear of heights and the slightly amateurish appearance of the outfit we were jumping with... So taking this into consideration the girls took it upon themselves to volunteer me to take the first jump/test the equipment out so without much say in the matter i was shoe horned into the harnesses and told to clamber over the 5ft fence and stand on this tiny platform no bigger than a tea tray which I did with relish and aplomb (honestly). Perched on this ridiculous little ledge with a guy jabbering instructions in Spanish at me several things were running through my mind i) I wish I'd picked up a touch more bridge jumping related Spanish in South America ii) Am I having a stroke as my legs should not be shaking this much and iii) if I do survive this I might be deleting Sam's number from my contacts (for those of you reading this and weren't aware, it was a 30th birthday present from the git). So with knees clattering I stood up and edged my way to certain death (well I had resigned myself to it anyway). The helpful chap who had been barking instructions seconds earlier had his less than reassuring hand on my back which in my mind technically made him an accessory so was pleased to see lots of people cheering, pointing and (most importantly should it have gone to trial) taking pictires. Pretty close to the point of tears and prolapse I flung myself off and remained speechless for the next 50metres before swearing my arse off in relief as some how I wasn't splattered on the rocks below but was swinging away above a rather ferocious river (just as well it was the first time i'd looked down since clambering over the fence really) Back on terra firma and still shaking like a pooping pooch I watched Flow follow suite and managed to make it back up to the bridge to see Anna fling herself off with slightly more grace and dignity than I'd managed but I decided to put it down to the bravery of the first jumper thoroughly testing the equipment out!
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