Looking over the bridge into the river some 100 plus feet below, scores of scenarios went through my head, most involving a trip to the hospital at best. A small crowd began to form as it was obvious I was thinking of jumping, and they all wanted to see the action up close. I kept hearing a voice over and over in my head. Do it. Don´t be a whimp. Do it. Don´t be a whimp. Wait, that wasen´t a voice in my head, that was my friend Drew with some "positive" encouragement.
I asked Drew what he thought the chances of me dying were. I told myself if he put the odds at under 15% I was going to jump. He answered with a reassuring 7%, and shortly thereafter I was getting strapped into the harness and was stepping over the railing of the bridge. My harness was connected to a bungee that was connected to a higher bridge directly in front of the bridge I was standing on. So once I stepped off the bridge, I would free fall until the slack tightened on the bungee, at which point my momentum would swing me forward- and back and forth I would go.
My heart was beating 1000 miles an hour, my legs were shaking uncontrollably, and I couldn´t stop smiling. Eyes closed, hands clenched in a death grip on the rope, I stepped off the side of the bridge into nothing....
Watch this video...
After surviving the bridge jumping incident, we continued exploring further into the Ecuadorian highlands searching for waterfalls. Here is some of what we found....
