Adventure & adrenaline

South Africa packs an astonishing range of thrills into one country. The headline is the Bloukrans Bridge bungee on the Garden Route, a 216 m plunge above the Bloukrans River that its operator bills as the world's highest commercial bridge bungy; it has run since 1997, with jumpers reaching the platform along a walkway beneath the road deck.

Into the forest canopy

Nearby in the Tsitsikamma forest, the original Tsitsikamma Canopy Tour glides between platforms set high in giant Outeniqua yellowwoods on a network of zip-lines. Similar canopy tours run at Magoebaskloof in Limpopo and on the Panorama Route at the Graskop Gorge, offering an airborne way to experience indigenous forest.

Cape Town's playground

Cape Town concentrates an extraordinary amount of adventure. Abseil Africa runs a 112 m descent off the top of Table Mountain, promoted as the world's highest commercial abseil, stepping off around 1,000 m above the sea. The city also offers tandem paragliding from Signal Hill and Lion's Head, sandboarding on the Atlantis Dunes, and tandem skydiving with views over Table Mountain and the Atlantic.

Sharks & summits

Along the Western Cape coast, Gansbaai — about two hours from Cape Town — is a global capital of great-white shark cage diving, thanks to the seal colonies and rich waters around Dyer Island and "Shark Alley"; trips take a few hours and need no diving experience. For overland adrenaline, the Sani Pass is South Africa's most celebrated 4x4 route, climbing from the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg to a border summit around 2,876 m at the edge of Lesotho, with gradients as steep as 1:4. At the top sits what is traditionally called the highest pub in southern Africa — a fitting reward for one of the country's toughest drives.