Look Out Below – Bungee Jumper Heading Down!
It may seem, to the casual observer, that bungee jumping is a relatively new sport, but it actually goes back to an ancient tradition of vine jumping, originated around 1500 years ago and still practiced (mostly as a tourist attraction) on the Pacific Ocean island of Pentecost (an island in the Vanuatus group, formerly New Hebrides). Originally performed as a coming of age ritual, the islanders would erect towers and then select the strongest vines to use as their equivalent of the modern bungee cord. There are no statistics related to the survival rate or the number of injuries, but apparently the Vanuatus still have a population.
