If you want to stimulate your adrenaline secretion, come to Cape Town. While floating through thin air, you can enjoy some of the most scenic sights in the world.

1. Kiting

Begin your adrenaline surge as you kite surf at Big Bay in Bloubergstrand, experience the excitement of three-wheeled buggy racing, or just enjoy the festivities and creative designs at the annual kite festival in September. The Cape Peninsula has plenty of space for every kind of kiting, with the beaches a perennial favourite. There's more than enough water, of course for kite surfing; the wide broad beaches are perfect terrain for the three-wheeled buggies that one steers with the feet while controlling the kite with one's hands; and never-endingly long beaches are great for downwind sand-skiing races.

2. Bungee Jumping

How does one define ‘extreme’? Bungee the world's highest commercial jump? 216m of pure air! The thought of dangling in thin air attached only to a piece of rope brings feelings of sheer terror to most normal people, yet ironically bungee jumping is some of the safest adrenalin activities you could participate in - especially in the Cape where the safety measures that are enforced are of the most extreme order.
The world's highest commercial jump of 216m is situated at Bloukrans, on the eastern side of the Cape Garden Route, but the most popular bungee site is the beautiful Gouritz River Bridge between Albertinia and Mossel Bay. The original bungee site in Africa, with a perfect safety record, this 65m jump is the world's highest above dry ground.

3. Abseiling

Abseiling, the sport that has you stepping backwards off a cliff to 'walk' down to the bottom, or to hang suspended from an overhang to lower yourself down to the ground, is a popular Xtreme sport in the Cape Peninsula, with many spectacular locations available. The abseil known as "The Long Drop" on Table Mountain will have you stepping over the edge at 1 063m into pure oblivion to indulge in the world's highest commercial abseil, all 112 metres to a ledge lower down.

4. Skydiving

More experienced parachutists should consider dropping in to the Cape for their Accelerated Freefall Courses, where the qualification is way cheaper than almost anywhere else on the planet, with world-class instructors and safety crew. A number of flying clubs and drop zones offer you some of the most scenic locations on the planet, whether you're a first-time rookie wanting to get a feel for it, or an experienced parachutist wanting to work on your freefall. The logic behind jumping out of a perfectly functional aeroplane does confuse the author, though. "Accelerated exhilaration" is what one operator calls it. But the scenes seen from up there are all the more appreciated. And what scenes they are: imagine the brilliant blues of the Cape West Coast, with Cape Town and Robben Island in the distance. And Citrusdal in spring is unsurpassed: the Cape's famous wild-flower spectacle calling you down to the earth.

5. Gliding

Gliding is for the birds, and those lucky few who get to soar on invisible powers while indulging in the most inspiring sightseeing trip imaginable. While in the rest of the world, this sport attracts the die-hard adventure junkie, in the Cape it's also the choice of those who simply want to commune with nature in the purest way. The Cape is the venue for frequent world distance and height record attempts. Closer to the city, both first-timers and experienced paragliders will get the ride of their lives, as they step off the postcard setting of such Cape icons as Table Mountain and Lion's Head. Those inclined to testing out the sport with no commitment can opt for a tandem flight in which a well-qualified pilot does all the work and you get to sit back, relax and take in the aerial views of the magnificent sites below you.