25 Amazing and Crazy Things To Around the World

Written By: The Planet D

Hi there, my name is Anthony and I’m from TheTravelTart.com. I’m good mates with Dave and Deb from The Planet D, and they’ve been silly enough to let me write a guest post for them.

I write about the funny, offbeat, and downright weird aspects at my website. But I also like doing the odd Adventure Travel activity here and there, and I’m going to write about five thrill seeking activities that I’ve really enjoyed on my travels around the world.

I’ve also included a ‘Crap Your Pants’ rating to add my description – basically, a crude measurement to describe the thrill rating of each activity.

Crazy Things to do Before you Die

Here we go!

Mountain Biking down the World’s Most Dangerous Road, Bolivia

This infamous ‘Road of Death’ claimed an average of 20 vehicles each year until a new highway opened in 2007 – in fact, the locals were so annoyed with the old road, that they used the new road during the construction period!

These days, ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Road’ is pretty much a mountain bike track. Only tourists are silly enough to use this road. In fact, about 10 people have lost their lives mountain biking down this magnificent part of Bolivia.

The trip is about 70 kilometres and starts at 4000 metres above sea level (sometimes in the snow), and finishes at 1500 metres above sea level – in tropical forest. It takes about 6 to 7 hours cycling downhill. The hardest part is a 3 kilometre uphill pedal at 3500 metres – which almost burst my lungs.

The drop over the edge is ‘only’ 600 metres!

Believe me, it’s worth risking your life to ride this fantastic track! I was on a high for days after cycling down The World’s Most Dangerous Road – in fact, I wanted to go again!

Crap Your Pants Rating (out of 10) – 7 (if you complete the ride). 10 if you fall over the edge.

Microlighting Over Victoria Falls – Zambia/Zimbabwe

microlight over victoria falls Zambia/Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls is one of the most spectacular places in the world to visit – and you have to visit 2 countries to experience it! Since the troubles of Zimbabwe has pretty much killed the tourist trade there (for example, see my post about the Zimbabwe Dollar), most of the infrastructure and facilities for visiting Victoria Falls now occur in Zambia.

There’s all sorts of things you can do at Victoria Falls – you could possibly try and drown yourself in the Grade 5 rapids by white water rafting, you can bungee jump off the Victoria Falls Bridge, and go for a twighlight booze cruise on the Zambezi River.

But there is something you should do – fly over Victoria Falls via a Microlight. This gives a fantastic panoramic view of the falls, but also provides a fascinating insight into the surrounding areas. For example, you can see animals such as elephants and hippos from this high up.

Microlighting over Victoria Falls is a great way to blow $USD 100 in 15 minutes, but it’s worth it. Read more: Incredible Things to Do in Victoria Falls, Zambia

Crap Your Pants Rating – 4.

Coasteering – Wales

coasteering in wales
DCIM105GOPRO

Coasteering is a relatively new Adventure Travel sport – it’s been around for barely over 20 years, and I would describe it as a coastal obstacle course that involves rock climbing, swimming, jumping and subjecting yourself to the elements of nature.

It was invented by a number of adrenalin junkies who used to rock climb around the rugged Welsh coastline, and then they realised they could combine all of their passions into one, and hence decided to include gear such as wetsuits and helmets. I would think the closest relation to Coasteering would be Canyoning. Read more: What to Expect when Coasteering in Wales

This is definitely a team sport – everyone helps each other out in and out of the water, and it’s something that gives you no choice but to do things together. In fact, Coasteering is a popular option for corporate love-ins, hen’s nights, and buck’s parties.

You can also swim (or rather, be swept in by the tide) inside a nearby cave. I’d describe this Coasteering experience as being thrown around in a hard washing machine!

Crap Your Pants Rating – 7

Gorge Swing at Oribi Gorge, South Africa and Zambia

victoria falls zambia zipline

Gorge Swinging is a good excuse to throw yourself off a perfectly stable rocky platform and into a seemingly endless abyss of about 70 metres. Basically, it’s a rudimentary construction involving a bungee cord attached to a cable running across the Gorge.

Anyway, here is some video footage of me totally crapping myself attempting to complete this Gorge Swing. Try not to laugh at me screaming my guts out. That’s because you will hear others in the background giggling as well.

Crap Your Pants Rating – 9

We had our own gorge swing adventure in Zambia, check out our very different experience here.  Dave is itching to give the South African one a try now, thanks Anthony for the fabulous inspiration.

There you go. If you are anywhere near these places on your travels, I strongly suggest trying out these Adventure Travel activities – you won’t regret it!

Do the Polar Plunge in Antarctica

Polar Plunge-dave-swimming
It really does take your breath away!

Cage Dive with Great White Sharks in South Africa

cage diving great white sharks - Deb getting in the water
Deb getting into the cold water

Go Skydiving in New Zealand

skydive freefall

Go Tidal Bore Rafting in Nova Scotia

Take a Walk Around the EdgeWalk

iconic things to do in canada

Climb a Frozen Waterfall – Alberta

things to do in canada winter | ice climb

Zip Lining in the Rainforest – Fiji

zip-line-fiji

Zip Lining in the Fijian Rainforest is a good excuse to get away from that nice resort that you’re staying in and work off all of those buffet lunches. Basically, Zip Lining is stringing steel cables between a number of trees, then attaching yourself to them via a pulley, and hurtling yourself down them.

It’s great fun! People of all ages can do Zip Lining, and you can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometres per hour (around 44 miles per hour). Ironically, this speed is only 10 kilometres below the official National Road Speed Limit of 80 km/hour!

There are a total of 8 Zip Lines on the course – the shortest is a quick transfer of 15 metres (around 50 feet), with the longest around 220 metres (720 feet). The total length of Zip Lines is around 1 kilometre, or 0.6 of a mile. It takes about 40 minutes to an hour to traverse the course.

We did our own Fiji Zipline if you feel like checking it out you can click here to see our video. Amazingly, we had the same guide as Anthony.

Crap Your Pants Rating – 5

Drive a Stunt Car – Bucharest

Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

adventure vacations couples kilimanjaro

Swim with Whale Sharks

cancun day trips whale sharks

Walk with Polar Bears

Walking With Polar Bears near Churchill Manitoba

Cheers!

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About The Planet D

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil are the owners and founders of The Planet D. After traveling to 115 countries, on all 7 continents over the past 13 years they have become one of the foremost experts in travel. Being recognized as top travel bloggers and influencers by the likes of Forbes Magazine, the Society of American Travel Writers and USA Today has allowed them to become leaders in their field.

Leave a Comment

25 thoughts on “25 Amazing and Crazy Things To Around the World”

  1. I feel like I’m too much of a chicken to do most of these. Having said that, when travelling, you definitely have more of a brave “when in Rome” attitude, so who knows 😉

    Reply
  2. I really like these sports, specially bungee jumping and your experiences are awesome !!
    I hope to visit Zimbabwe and practice that .

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  3. Haha love the ‘crap your pants’ rating! I would be too chicken to do some of these, although the Victoria Fall microlighting does look amazing

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  4. Microlighting over Victoria Falls is a must this summer! I wouldn’t have made up my mind until I see this wonderful post.

    Hiking and walking is possible but I will never dare go biking on Bolivia’s Road of Death, . I don’t want to make it as my “last trip” 🙂

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  5. I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my solo travels but that microlighting over Victoria Falls is a MUST. Coolest thing I’ve ever seen (and yet not done)!

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    • It’s something that we must do too! We did a helicopter flight through the gorge and over the falls and it was pretty incredible, but microlighting looks even more amazing!

      Reply
  6. Next to the salt flats, the road of death was my biggest Bolivia highlight. One of the most satisfying beers at the bar/cafe at the end of that road.

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  7. Gosh, microlighting over Victoria Falls seems like something that you can’t just miss out on. Can’t wait!

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    • I enjoyed microlighting over Vic Falls more than actually standing in front of them! It’s a great place to do it, and gives an amazing perspective!

      Reply
  8. Kristen did the bike ride in Bolivia and one guy in her group fell off and broke a collar bone. Apart from that mishap it sounded like fun.

    Reply
  9. That Death Road looks awesome, I saw some photos of it a while ago. Definitely something that I would do if I ever make it over to Bolivia 🙂

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  10. Thanks for the info. Just went Ziplining in Puerto Vallarta 2 weeks ago. A wonderful experience. Los Veranos canopy tour. 1.5 hrs. to get through the course, 1365ft longest. Spectacular.
    The Bolivian Downhill looks stellar, can’t wait. What’s a good time of year, away from any tourists, if there are any.

    Mike

    Reply
    • I went in November 2007, and found it was easy to go on a trip. I wouldn’t say Bolivia is swarming with tourists, but it’s definitely worth it! A tip is to make sure the company you go with has proper Downhill Mountain bikes. Our group was the last to start, and the first to finish, simply because we had better equipment

      Reply