Tiffany, true to her early-rising form, was ready to go with her underwater camera by 3:31. Nidal drove us two and a half hours to Kleinbaai where we had prebooked our dive with the eccentric skipper, Brian McFarlane (interviewed on the Today Show), at Sharkcagediving.net. Passing more than a few places with names like "Shark Fever" and "Shark Adventurers" I had a feeling we were going to see some great stuff today. We didn't want to miss this one, so we left early and got there a whole half hour before we were supposed to (Now, that's a feat, if not a God sent miracle for eight people) and it was still dark outside. I think the staff was still picking crust out of their eyes when we showed up, but they're used to getting up early. We got a quick breakfast while the sun broke the Atlantic horizon and we caught a glimpse of the docks and coast. I'll let the picture speak for itself.
Remember, scientific research and made up statistics have shownthat pictures of anything amazing are at least half as breathtaking
as they are in real life.
I think this one marked the moment at which I'd officially seen more sunrises in Africa than I've seen in America. We got a pep-talk and a summary of the weather conditions from the skipper.
Great example of the South African accent.
We suited up after snagging a few more apples from the fruit bowl and headed to the docks where we jumped aboard and hit the top deck for the best view.
The whole crew just before we boarded the boat.Once we pushed off and were well on our way we noticed that seagulls started coasting along with the boat, which was clipping along pretty fast. Then we saw why. The crew was lifting strips of fresh fish high in their hands at the bow. The gulls struggled with the strong opposing winds but swooped from side to side at least 20 times. It looked like they had done it before, but what a struggle just for small piece of fish. If I were a seagull I woulda just said, "Eff-it, I'm not playing your games. I'll just eat french fries out of the trash in the parking lot of a Walmart." But maybe I don't have discriminating enough seagull-taste buds.
The seagulls get tasty fresh fish chunks.The skipper told us that the conditions were great, but there was an early call time because high winds were forecast for today. The captain stopped the boat and dropped anchor to angle us directly out to Shark Alley, the most famous shark area in the world. Boats head to the mouth of the alley between two islands to entice and observe sharks as they head in to hunt for seals that sunbathe on the rocks. The skipper, with more than 10 years experience and a kinda OK safety reputation (Kidding. In 14 years no accidents), informed us that most boats were not going out because of the high wind threat. Indeed we noticed when we laid anchor that only two other boats had decided to go out. I trusted the guy's judgment; he goes out more than 300 days a year. And besides, more sharks for us! They started pouring their touted special formula of chum (If I had my own specially formulated chum I would call it Yummy Chummy, and I envision a jingle something like the Meow Mix commercial) into the water, and we could soon see the sheen of the fish oils spread out from the boat into the mouth of the alleyway.
One of the crewmen shredding fish for the yummy chummy.It took about fifteen minutes for the skipper leaning over the bow to spot his first shark. So the first group went in the tank.
We waited til the last group so we could make sure we'd get a good view. We didn't want to be there in the water with only one shark. Reminds me too much of the awkward beginning of a college dance party where the guy you don't really know shows up first. We also wanted to keep the group together.
The four Hamzey kids and the two Sih's got fitted for and strapped on our wetsuits, masks (they were particular about calling them masks, not goggles), and weight belts. It should be noted that the two parental units dropped us off and headed to a local winery to kill some time while we were on the boat. Maybe they'll post their experiences. Since we were the last group, the crew had trouble finding a dry extra-extra small wetsuit for Rena and two smalls for me and Tariq. Then when they got to Nidal, they said we should eat like him. I've heard that before, so I quickly replied, "Now you know why I'm so skinny."
The first thing I did when I hit the water was gasp for air, the natural reflex when your body hits cold water. What wasn't natural was how many tiny bits of ground up fish guts and scales must have gone down with that gulp of seawater. And it happened twice. Luckily I didn't think much about it because I was so excited, but the thought of it now makes me a little woozy. Anyway, the cage had hand rails and floats and was dropped into the water against the side of the boat. It fit eight people side-by-side, and left just enough room above the surface of the water for you to bob up and down to breathe. It turns out the skipper didn't disappoint when he said we had great conditions and good visibility. The crew threw out fish guts on a line as a lure, and a seal-shaped foam cutout to bring the sharks close to the cage. They said we got about 15 views, I think, but time flies and I wasn't ready to get out. Here are some pics (and video)...
This guy threw out the bait and helped spot the sharks
I made Tiffany miss one of the best sharks for this picture. Oops.Shark fights with seal decoy.
Check out the bites taken out of the decoy on this one.
Everyone got a second chance to go in the cage and all six of us went again. Then the skipper warned that the forecasted strong winds were approaching. I was thinking, "What is this wimp talking about. It's not that windy." We took two passes near the island to check out the seals jumping out of the water, sunbathing and barking. Ask Nidal to do his impression. He's pretty good.
Seal Island where tasty cape fur seals sunbathe and great whites (would)lick their lips (if they had them).
Just before we turned to head back to shore one of the crewmen came up the ladder and asked Rena if her camera was waterproof. When she shook her head, he didn't skip a beat in saying comically, "just put it away then." To say the seas were a little choppy on the way back would be an understatement. It felt like the boat in the movie The Perfect Storm (I'm embellishing a little here). I felt my stomach hit the roof of my mouth when the boat dropped over the top of a six-foot swell, and since we were again sitting on the top deck of the boat it felt like I was riding a bull. To add to the potentially deadly experience, each time the boat splashed down, the water jumped over the bow, hung in the air for just long enough for me to watch them turn into little flying daggers aimed at my face. If only I had some Neo skillz. When we got back to shore, we rendezvoused with the parents again, then got suckered into buying the DVD, the cost of which we split with Alli and Tiffany. We warmed up with some coffee, and then headed off to the rest of our day. It turns out that after all this adventure, it was still just before noon. I would just be eating breakfast if I were in LA right now.
We then drove our sea salt-crusted selves (no time for a shower) to the V&A Waterfront in downtown Cape Town in an attempt to go to the Nelson Mandela Gateway Museum there (Robben Island ferries were booked solid), but it was closed. It was still a great atmosphere as Spain was about to face off with Portugal in a few hours time in Cape Town's Green Point Stadium. We didn't have the energy to stick around so we went to Superspar again to pick up some dinner and a nearby liquor store to pick up a lot of beer. Interestingly, while the drinking age is 18 here, you have to go to a liquor store to get beer. Still, they're not stringent at all on the drinking age. I wasn't carded for alcohol once; my baby face still allows me to get into some museums with the child rate. But I digress. We headed back to Sacred Mountain Lodge armed with a case of beer, ingredients for some baller grilled cheese sandwiches, and two frozen pizzas. We settled in to watch Spain vs. Portugal (Spain dominated, but only won 1-0, so they'll move on to face Paraguay in the quarterfinals in a few days). Now, one by one, we're nodding off early after an exciting day.
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