So my last 5 days in South Africa were amazing, as with the first day, and so much happened it will be hard for me to share everything. Partly because so much happened and partly because I feel like I can’t put a lot of it into words, but here is my best attempt! Again sorry for any spelling/grammar errors.
Day 2:
Andi got back to the room at like 2:30am just in time to back from her safari that left at 3:15. So this woke me up and I decided to stay up because I was so afraid that I wouldn’t wake up in time for my safari. I got to the union around 4:30 and met up with my group. A lot of them had just gotten back from going out for the night and didn’t sleep. Al, the director of student life, was our trip leader and he handed out our passports. We didn’t have stamps form South Africa and we were all really disappointed. Al told us there would probably be a lot of countries that we wouldn’t get stamps from. We waited for everyone to get there but one girl never showed up so we left without her. The ship gave us a boxed lunch to take and we got on out bus. We wouldn’t be able to take the food with us on the plane so we decided to eat our lunches at 5am. It was only about a 20 minute ride to the airport. Al ended up taking back our passports before we got there.
When we got to the airport Al and our tour guide checked us all in while we waited. Our plane left at 6:30 and I don’t think we got our boarding passes until 6:10 and then had to go through security. Security at the airport was a joke. We never showed ID when we went through and people got through with a lot more than 3 oz of liquid and some people even beeped in the metal detector and weren’t searched. We got to our terminal and I thought we would walk onto our plane, but we actually walk out get on a bus and it takes us to our plane and we walk up stairs to board it. I fell asleep as soon as I sat down and when I woke up they were serving us a hot breakfast! I have never had a hot meal on a plane so I was pretty impressed. They had omelets, yogurt, a rusk and whatever drink you wanted. It was only a 2 hour flight to Durban. I ate my food and went back to sleep and before I knew it we were landing.
We got off the plane and got on another bus and were provided with another box lunch. We were told the bus ride would be three hours and the lunch was just a snack because another lunch would be ready at the lodge when we got there! I ate a little bit of it while our tour guide Irka talked about Durban. After this I fell asleep again and woke up when we stopped for a bathroom break at a gas station. It was actually raining at this point. We still had 2 more hours to go so I slept some more and woke up about 30 minutes before we got there and just stared out the window still not believing where I was.
When we arrived we were handed a class of fresh juice and shortly after lunch was served and it was delicious. There was a monkey that came up and sat on the railing right where we were eating and we also saw some impalas. After that I headed to my room to relax until our evening game drive at 4. There were 11 of us that had room in the safari lodge which was a 5-10 minute walk away, but we got a ride over since we had all our bags. My roommates name was Kendal and she’s from Newport Beach so we just talked until it was time to go. Our room was really nice, there were two beds and a couch type thing right at the window so you could sit and stare out. There was a fridge and a microwave and a really big bathroom. It was a round villa type building with a thatch roof. There was also a really nice pool next to our room and warthogs and impalas roaming around. We decided to walk to the other lodge instead of waiting for a car to pick us up.
We all got into safari cars and went on a drive around the small reserve that the lodge was on. They didn’t have things like lion or elephants, but they had just introduced leopards and hyenas. We saw some zebras, a wildebeest, and a lot of impalas. We stopped and met the other groups to drink some water and have dried fruit and jerky. After this I got in the same car as Kendal because she said her driver Anna was really cool and had a lot of stories. We saw more or the same animals as we made it back to the lodge. We went back to our rooms and showered before dinner. Dinner was really good and we hung out for a while and talked with everyone. After that it was a little after 8 and we were ready to go to bed.
Day 3:
We had a wake up call at 7 to make it to breakfast by 8. They had the best fruit for breakfast, especially the pineapple. One student who got a ride from our lodge was talking to the driver and he said one of the other drivers got bit by a Mozambique spitting cobra the night before and might lose her thumb. We wondered if it was Ana because we hadn’t seen here and when we got in the car at 9 to go on our drive she wasn’t there. We decided to go with François and we asked about Ana and found out that it was her. He told us that he got bit by the same snake a month earlier while he was sleeping and had to spend a week and a half in the hospital and get 3 surgeries.
We left the lodge and drove for about 15 minutes to the reserve. The reserve was 98000 acres and had all of the big 5 which are lions, elephants, rhino, leopards, and buffalo. Our goal was to see all 5! Within 5 minutes of pulling into the reserve we saw our first of the 5… a bunch of buffalo! We took plenty of pictures and then just up the road were some zebras that we checked out. And after that were some giraffes. We also saw a lot of birds that Francois told us about and some bugs too. We stopped at a picnic area for a bathroom area where there was a zebra and her baby that everyone was taking pictures with until someone saw the elephants that were down the embankment in a riverbed! There were 60 of them and they were part of a herd of 120. Our driver told us to be ready to run if he said so in case they came our way because according to him we were about as close as you would want to be to a herd of elephants. We ended up being safe. As we walked back I saw a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung across the grass, which I thought was pretty funny.
After we left was saw some more buffalo and different birds. There were families that were driving there cars through the reserve as well and we thought it was hilarious that we saw a jaguar! I even took a picture of it hehe. I was surprised at the really nice cars people were driving a round, and Francois told us a story about how he came face to face with an elephant and threw it in reverse and packed right into a guy in a Porsche behind him! We came across some more giraffes and zebras. We headed up a mountain and got a beautiful view of the river and rest of the reserve. He told us about some of the trees and some people tried one of the fruits off a tree which are an elephant’s favorite snack. After this he pointed out the biggest spider I have ever seen. I think it was called an orb weaver or something like that. Its web is so strong they use to use it to make bullet proof vests. After the snake story and seeing that spider I was officially freaked out!
We started making our way back to the picnic grounds for lunch and we came across a huge group of baboons crossing the street. We got really close tot hem, it was so cool! I thought they were going to hop into our car. The little babies were so cute. Just as we thought we weren’t gonna see anything else before lunch we pull up right next to a rhino, the 3rd of the big 5! Then we keep driving and see another rhino in the distance and we think it might be heading to a water hole that was right by the road so we pull up next to it and wait. About a minute later out came the rhino and its little baby! Each time we would see something like this it would just put the biggest smile on my face. To see these animals in their natural habitat not locked up in some cage is so amazing. If you ever have the chance to come to South Africa you absolutely have to go on a safari. We spotted some warthogs after this and then arrived for lunch.
Lunch was so much better than I would have guessed! They actually put out tablecloths and silverware and had all sorts of food. We hung out and ate and were ready to go and find the last 2 of the big 5! We came up to this point that overlooked the river and we saw an elephant and two rhino. We saw another car at a spot closer to them and decided to head down there. We were getting picture of the three of the together when François said he saw a lion way up the river!!! In one picture we had three of the big 5, I couldn’t imagine it getting much better than that. The lion was walking up the river and getting closer and closer. François told us it wouldn’t do anything to the rhinos and he was right, it just kept walking by. It was female lion so she didn’t have the cool mane, but it was still amazing. Once she was out of site we decided to head back to our spot higher up and try to spot her again. We saw her for a second but then she went back into the bush were she couldn’t be seen. After this we made our way back to the lodge seeing a few more animals that we had already seen.
We got back to our rooms and showered and rested before dinner. They originally told us we were going have a bush dinner where I thought we would get to try different animals, but we just had that same type of dinner as the night before except it was at our lodge this time. Again the food was amazing. We were exhausted form the day so Kendal and I headed back to our room. When we got there at about 9 it was too hot to fall asleep so we ended up staying up till 130 talking. I think part of it had to do with being scared of snakes and spiders coming into our room while we were sleeping. We actually slept with the light on.
Day 4:
Wake up call was at 6 am with breakfast at 7. We filled up with as much fruit as possible before we had to leave at 8. When it came time to get on the bus we were all so sad to go. On the way to the air port we stopped at a craft market which was really cool but we only had about 20 minutes. It was really hard to make a decision in such a short amount of time because there was so much stuff, but I ended up with two really cool carved wood boxes and some bracelets. We made one more stop and a gas station and got snacks and eventually made it to the airport. We had some time before our flight left so we got some pizza which was really good. On the plane we had another hot meal this time it was pasta which was really good. We flew British Airways and I guess it must just be something they do on every flight.
Once we got back to the ship Kendal, Amanda and I went to the mall to do a little shopping. We bought yoga mats because the ones on the ship always get taken. There are yoga and pilates classes offered daily on the ship, which is a nice way to stay in shape. We decided to get sushi for dinner and it was so good! I’ve really missed having sushi an dI can’t wait to get to Japan and try it there. We walked back to the ship and all loaded our pictures onto our computers and shared them in Kendal’s room. Kendal’s came out a lot better because her camera could zoom a lot more, so she let me upload all of hers. She got some great shots of the lion. I went back to my room and unpacked and waited for my friend to call me because we were planning on shark diving the next day. She called around midnight and said we had to leave at 4 am. I was not thrilled about this because I hadn’t got much sleep the night before but I knew I would only be here once so I set my alarm for 330 and went to bed.
Day 5:
I got up at 3:30 and packed for the trip. We walked to the clock tower where we were getting picked up. We ended up having to pick up a couple other people which took 30 minutes and once they were all in we had a two hour drive to the spot. We were packed into the van really tight so I wasn’t able to get the sleep I was planning on. When we got there they had breakfast ready for us and talked a little about their company. They started out in 1989 as a research company and eventually began doing the cage diving to fund their research. There are only 8 companies total with one boat each that are aloud to do the cage diving.
By 8 we were getting on the boat and we only had to go out about 10 to 15 minutes to get where we needed to be to see the sharks. They did a circle and put the chum in the water and then they dropped the anchor. They put the cage in the water and explained to us how it would work and a little about the sharks. They told us that it is possible that the great whites could be extinct in 10 to 15 years because a lot of them are being killed for their jaws, which are mostly sold in the US. They put some fish heads on a rope right in front of the cage to lure the shark. To my surprise at this point I was feeling really sea sick so I sat at the front of the boat and sucked on a lollipop which is suppose to help and for the most part it did.
After sitting for about 45 minutes someone yelled that a shark was coming so we ran to the back and saw the huge great white swim by, it was so cool to see! After this happened four people already in wet suits got in the cage, but the shark didn’t come back. We sat for a long while with no sharks and then decided to move over by another boat that had a shark. Shortly after we got there we saw the shark and more people got in the cage. When the shark was approaching they would tell the ones in the cage to go down. They only had masks on so you stayed under as long as you could hold your breath. A lot of times they didn’t even see the shark because the visibility was so poor in the water. The shark didn’t come by for a while so they got out of the cage and right after he swam by 3 times! So they got back in and finally got a good look at it. I never got in because I wasn’t feeling well at all, but looking back I wish I did. The cage was a lot smaller than I imagined and at the time I was feeling like I would get really claustrophobic in there. February is actually the off season for the sharks so we were lucky to see as much as we did.
Around noon we headed back to the dock. I drank some hot chocolate, which was amazing, but didn’t feel up to eating the scones they made for us. We got to watch video clips from our trip and had the opportunity to buy the video, but I didn’t get a copy. After this is was time to head back to Cape Town. The ride seemed to take forever. There was a little boy and his father on the trip and he came up to my seat which was more towards the front and handed me a piece of trash and asked me to throw it out the window for him. I told him I didn’t want to litter and I would put it in my bag. I had some stickers with me that I had in case I ran into any kids and decided to offer some to him. He picked out the dinosaur stickers and went back to his seat. A minute later he came up and asked if he could have more so he could sell them. I was a little shocked but gave him a couple more. He saw that I had more and demanded that I give them all to him. I told him that I was saving them for other little boys. I asked him how old he was and he said 6. He also told me he could sell them for one rand, and there are 7 rand to the dollar. After I refused to give him the rest he sat back down for the rest of the drive.
As soon as we got back to the ship I laid down and went to sleep without changing or anything. I woke up two hours later to go to dinner with Sarah and Katie, who I had gone shark diving with, and some of their friends. We went to this jazz restaurant called the Green Dolphin. A live band played and they were really good! I ordered Calamari as an appetizer and then wanted raviolis for dinner but they were out so I got phyllo parcels. I wasn’t sure what they were but the description sounded good and they turned out to be amazing! It was a breaded pocket stuffed with butternut and some other things I can’t remember. For dessert I got a chocolate truffle tort that was also amazing and in the end I got all the food and entertainment for about $40 US and I imagine it would cost five times more back home. We didn’t get out of there until almost 11 so I just headed back to the ship for bed.
Day 6:
I woke up because several people kept calling Andi because she was suppose to hike Table Mountain with them, but she had decided she didn’t want to go anymore. Finally they convinced her to go and since I was now awake I decided to tag along, but we only had about three minutes to get ready. I got dressed grabbed the $50 rand that I had left and my camera and we left. I didn’t grab water or sunscreen and I wasn’t sure how we would manage, but I could imagine coming to Cape Town without going to the top of Table Mountain. We caught a taxi just outside of the ship and they took us to the base of the mountain where the cable car was. I thought we could get water there but everyone was all ready to start the hike that moment. Andi and I took one look up at the mountain and thought, there is no way. So we stayed behind and decided to use Andi’s credit card to take the cable car up. The only problem was the huge line!
After waiting for about two hours it was finally our turn to get in the car! It was really neat because the floor rotated so that you could get all the different views. The car actually made it up in 2-3 minutes, which felt really fast. The view was spectacular from the top! We headed to the restaurant for lunch since we didn’t have time to eat anything before we came. The food wasn’t that great, but it didn’t matter because we were on the top of Table Mountain! After we ate we walked around looking at the different views and then decided to try and find the group we had came with that decided to hike. We found them with cold water in hand and they looked so happy to see us/the water. I couldn’t imagine doing that hike, one it gets to a certain point it looks like the mountain goes straight up. We showed them to the restaurant and sat with them as they ate. They had met a woman from Brazil as they were hiking and she ended up buying our group a really nice bottle of champagne. We talked to some other people at the top as well. I noticed that a lot of people want to know about our political views when they find out we are from the US.
We walked around the top and took some more pictures and then decided to make our way down. Those who hiked decided to take the cable car down with us. Just as we were about to get on, we saw these two people standing on the side of the mountain. We couldn’t figure out what they were doing at first, but then we realized they were going to base jump! It was a man and a woman and as they finished getting ready they gave each other a tight hug and a kiss and the guy moved to the place that he would be jumping from. I still couldn’t believe he was seriously about to jump off the side of this mountain but he did and miraculously got his parachute open just in time. After seeing he was okay the woman got set up for her jump and off she went! She also got her chute open in time, but I was seriously scarred for both of their lives. They actually ended up landing in the street below and traffic had to stop for them. After this we got in the car with no wait, which was really nice. We piled into another taxi and made it back to the ship.
At this point I decided to take the time to write my post cards because I knew I had to finish them before on ship time at 9. When this was done I dropped them in the box and went back to the mall to do some last minute shopping. I came back to the ship with all my stuff and found Megan so I decided to go back out with her. We shopped a little more and then got dinner at this Mexican place right by the ship that I had been wanting to since I got there. I was really craving some enchiladas but they weren’t on the menu, so I went for nachos. They were so good! I had some extra rand so I got a chocolate milkshake too. It took a long time to get our food and by the time we were done it was almost on ship time. I ran to a bookstore real quick to spend my last rand on a magazine and then got back on the ship.
As another incentive to get people back on time there was a choir performance by a local high school. I made it back just in time for this. They were AMAZING! I got some videos of a couple of their songs, I wish I could share them now. We did not want them to stop but after an hour they had to go. I went back to my room took some Dramamine and went to bed. I was awaken by an announcement that the ship had been issued a fog warning and could not leave at this time. We were suppose to leave at 11pm. They said this meant we could be stuck for a few minutes, hours, or maybe till the next day.
The next morning..
I woke up and didn’t feel the ship rocking and looked out the window and we were still in South Africa! I couldn’t see Table Mountain this time though because the fog was so thick. So I went up and ate breakfast and it was so frustrating to be sitting right out side my new favorite place and not be able to leave the ship! I think we ended up leaving the harbor around 11am. The seas have been pretty rocky since then, but I imagined them being worse.
So now we are on our way to Mauritius! And I will be a full 12 hours ahead of California time, such a strange feeling. So hopefully a new update after we leave there on the 4th.
Day 2:
Andi got back to the room at like 2:30am just in time to back from her safari that left at 3:15. So this woke me up and I decided to stay up because I was so afraid that I wouldn’t wake up in time for my safari. I got to the union around 4:30 and met up with my group. A lot of them had just gotten back from going out for the night and didn’t sleep. Al, the director of student life, was our trip leader and he handed out our passports. We didn’t have stamps form South Africa and we were all really disappointed. Al told us there would probably be a lot of countries that we wouldn’t get stamps from. We waited for everyone to get there but one girl never showed up so we left without her. The ship gave us a boxed lunch to take and we got on out bus. We wouldn’t be able to take the food with us on the plane so we decided to eat our lunches at 5am. It was only about a 20 minute ride to the airport. Al ended up taking back our passports before we got there.
When we got to the airport Al and our tour guide checked us all in while we waited. Our plane left at 6:30 and I don’t think we got our boarding passes until 6:10 and then had to go through security. Security at the airport was a joke. We never showed ID when we went through and people got through with a lot more than 3 oz of liquid and some people even beeped in the metal detector and weren’t searched. We got to our terminal and I thought we would walk onto our plane, but we actually walk out get on a bus and it takes us to our plane and we walk up stairs to board it. I fell asleep as soon as I sat down and when I woke up they were serving us a hot breakfast! I have never had a hot meal on a plane so I was pretty impressed. They had omelets, yogurt, a rusk and whatever drink you wanted. It was only a 2 hour flight to Durban. I ate my food and went back to sleep and before I knew it we were landing.
We got off the plane and got on another bus and were provided with another box lunch. We were told the bus ride would be three hours and the lunch was just a snack because another lunch would be ready at the lodge when we got there! I ate a little bit of it while our tour guide Irka talked about Durban. After this I fell asleep again and woke up when we stopped for a bathroom break at a gas station. It was actually raining at this point. We still had 2 more hours to go so I slept some more and woke up about 30 minutes before we got there and just stared out the window still not believing where I was.
When we arrived we were handed a class of fresh juice and shortly after lunch was served and it was delicious. There was a monkey that came up and sat on the railing right where we were eating and we also saw some impalas. After that I headed to my room to relax until our evening game drive at 4. There were 11 of us that had room in the safari lodge which was a 5-10 minute walk away, but we got a ride over since we had all our bags. My roommates name was Kendal and she’s from Newport Beach so we just talked until it was time to go. Our room was really nice, there were two beds and a couch type thing right at the window so you could sit and stare out. There was a fridge and a microwave and a really big bathroom. It was a round villa type building with a thatch roof. There was also a really nice pool next to our room and warthogs and impalas roaming around. We decided to walk to the other lodge instead of waiting for a car to pick us up.
We all got into safari cars and went on a drive around the small reserve that the lodge was on. They didn’t have things like lion or elephants, but they had just introduced leopards and hyenas. We saw some zebras, a wildebeest, and a lot of impalas. We stopped and met the other groups to drink some water and have dried fruit and jerky. After this I got in the same car as Kendal because she said her driver Anna was really cool and had a lot of stories. We saw more or the same animals as we made it back to the lodge. We went back to our rooms and showered before dinner. Dinner was really good and we hung out for a while and talked with everyone. After that it was a little after 8 and we were ready to go to bed.
Day 3:
We had a wake up call at 7 to make it to breakfast by 8. They had the best fruit for breakfast, especially the pineapple. One student who got a ride from our lodge was talking to the driver and he said one of the other drivers got bit by a Mozambique spitting cobra the night before and might lose her thumb. We wondered if it was Ana because we hadn’t seen here and when we got in the car at 9 to go on our drive she wasn’t there. We decided to go with François and we asked about Ana and found out that it was her. He told us that he got bit by the same snake a month earlier while he was sleeping and had to spend a week and a half in the hospital and get 3 surgeries.
We left the lodge and drove for about 15 minutes to the reserve. The reserve was 98000 acres and had all of the big 5 which are lions, elephants, rhino, leopards, and buffalo. Our goal was to see all 5! Within 5 minutes of pulling into the reserve we saw our first of the 5… a bunch of buffalo! We took plenty of pictures and then just up the road were some zebras that we checked out. And after that were some giraffes. We also saw a lot of birds that Francois told us about and some bugs too. We stopped at a picnic area for a bathroom area where there was a zebra and her baby that everyone was taking pictures with until someone saw the elephants that were down the embankment in a riverbed! There were 60 of them and they were part of a herd of 120. Our driver told us to be ready to run if he said so in case they came our way because according to him we were about as close as you would want to be to a herd of elephants. We ended up being safe. As we walked back I saw a dung beetle rolling a ball of dung across the grass, which I thought was pretty funny.
After we left was saw some more buffalo and different birds. There were families that were driving there cars through the reserve as well and we thought it was hilarious that we saw a jaguar! I even took a picture of it hehe. I was surprised at the really nice cars people were driving a round, and Francois told us a story about how he came face to face with an elephant and threw it in reverse and packed right into a guy in a Porsche behind him! We came across some more giraffes and zebras. We headed up a mountain and got a beautiful view of the river and rest of the reserve. He told us about some of the trees and some people tried one of the fruits off a tree which are an elephant’s favorite snack. After this he pointed out the biggest spider I have ever seen. I think it was called an orb weaver or something like that. Its web is so strong they use to use it to make bullet proof vests. After the snake story and seeing that spider I was officially freaked out!
We started making our way back to the picnic grounds for lunch and we came across a huge group of baboons crossing the street. We got really close tot hem, it was so cool! I thought they were going to hop into our car. The little babies were so cute. Just as we thought we weren’t gonna see anything else before lunch we pull up right next to a rhino, the 3rd of the big 5! Then we keep driving and see another rhino in the distance and we think it might be heading to a water hole that was right by the road so we pull up next to it and wait. About a minute later out came the rhino and its little baby! Each time we would see something like this it would just put the biggest smile on my face. To see these animals in their natural habitat not locked up in some cage is so amazing. If you ever have the chance to come to South Africa you absolutely have to go on a safari. We spotted some warthogs after this and then arrived for lunch.
Lunch was so much better than I would have guessed! They actually put out tablecloths and silverware and had all sorts of food. We hung out and ate and were ready to go and find the last 2 of the big 5! We came up to this point that overlooked the river and we saw an elephant and two rhino. We saw another car at a spot closer to them and decided to head down there. We were getting picture of the three of the together when François said he saw a lion way up the river!!! In one picture we had three of the big 5, I couldn’t imagine it getting much better than that. The lion was walking up the river and getting closer and closer. François told us it wouldn’t do anything to the rhinos and he was right, it just kept walking by. It was female lion so she didn’t have the cool mane, but it was still amazing. Once she was out of site we decided to head back to our spot higher up and try to spot her again. We saw her for a second but then she went back into the bush were she couldn’t be seen. After this we made our way back to the lodge seeing a few more animals that we had already seen.
We got back to our rooms and showered and rested before dinner. They originally told us we were going have a bush dinner where I thought we would get to try different animals, but we just had that same type of dinner as the night before except it was at our lodge this time. Again the food was amazing. We were exhausted form the day so Kendal and I headed back to our room. When we got there at about 9 it was too hot to fall asleep so we ended up staying up till 130 talking. I think part of it had to do with being scared of snakes and spiders coming into our room while we were sleeping. We actually slept with the light on.
Day 4:
Wake up call was at 6 am with breakfast at 7. We filled up with as much fruit as possible before we had to leave at 8. When it came time to get on the bus we were all so sad to go. On the way to the air port we stopped at a craft market which was really cool but we only had about 20 minutes. It was really hard to make a decision in such a short amount of time because there was so much stuff, but I ended up with two really cool carved wood boxes and some bracelets. We made one more stop and a gas station and got snacks and eventually made it to the airport. We had some time before our flight left so we got some pizza which was really good. On the plane we had another hot meal this time it was pasta which was really good. We flew British Airways and I guess it must just be something they do on every flight.
Once we got back to the ship Kendal, Amanda and I went to the mall to do a little shopping. We bought yoga mats because the ones on the ship always get taken. There are yoga and pilates classes offered daily on the ship, which is a nice way to stay in shape. We decided to get sushi for dinner and it was so good! I’ve really missed having sushi an dI can’t wait to get to Japan and try it there. We walked back to the ship and all loaded our pictures onto our computers and shared them in Kendal’s room. Kendal’s came out a lot better because her camera could zoom a lot more, so she let me upload all of hers. She got some great shots of the lion. I went back to my room and unpacked and waited for my friend to call me because we were planning on shark diving the next day. She called around midnight and said we had to leave at 4 am. I was not thrilled about this because I hadn’t got much sleep the night before but I knew I would only be here once so I set my alarm for 330 and went to bed.
Day 5:
I got up at 3:30 and packed for the trip. We walked to the clock tower where we were getting picked up. We ended up having to pick up a couple other people which took 30 minutes and once they were all in we had a two hour drive to the spot. We were packed into the van really tight so I wasn’t able to get the sleep I was planning on. When we got there they had breakfast ready for us and talked a little about their company. They started out in 1989 as a research company and eventually began doing the cage diving to fund their research. There are only 8 companies total with one boat each that are aloud to do the cage diving.
By 8 we were getting on the boat and we only had to go out about 10 to 15 minutes to get where we needed to be to see the sharks. They did a circle and put the chum in the water and then they dropped the anchor. They put the cage in the water and explained to us how it would work and a little about the sharks. They told us that it is possible that the great whites could be extinct in 10 to 15 years because a lot of them are being killed for their jaws, which are mostly sold in the US. They put some fish heads on a rope right in front of the cage to lure the shark. To my surprise at this point I was feeling really sea sick so I sat at the front of the boat and sucked on a lollipop which is suppose to help and for the most part it did.
After sitting for about 45 minutes someone yelled that a shark was coming so we ran to the back and saw the huge great white swim by, it was so cool to see! After this happened four people already in wet suits got in the cage, but the shark didn’t come back. We sat for a long while with no sharks and then decided to move over by another boat that had a shark. Shortly after we got there we saw the shark and more people got in the cage. When the shark was approaching they would tell the ones in the cage to go down. They only had masks on so you stayed under as long as you could hold your breath. A lot of times they didn’t even see the shark because the visibility was so poor in the water. The shark didn’t come by for a while so they got out of the cage and right after he swam by 3 times! So they got back in and finally got a good look at it. I never got in because I wasn’t feeling well at all, but looking back I wish I did. The cage was a lot smaller than I imagined and at the time I was feeling like I would get really claustrophobic in there. February is actually the off season for the sharks so we were lucky to see as much as we did.
Around noon we headed back to the dock. I drank some hot chocolate, which was amazing, but didn’t feel up to eating the scones they made for us. We got to watch video clips from our trip and had the opportunity to buy the video, but I didn’t get a copy. After this is was time to head back to Cape Town. The ride seemed to take forever. There was a little boy and his father on the trip and he came up to my seat which was more towards the front and handed me a piece of trash and asked me to throw it out the window for him. I told him I didn’t want to litter and I would put it in my bag. I had some stickers with me that I had in case I ran into any kids and decided to offer some to him. He picked out the dinosaur stickers and went back to his seat. A minute later he came up and asked if he could have more so he could sell them. I was a little shocked but gave him a couple more. He saw that I had more and demanded that I give them all to him. I told him that I was saving them for other little boys. I asked him how old he was and he said 6. He also told me he could sell them for one rand, and there are 7 rand to the dollar. After I refused to give him the rest he sat back down for the rest of the drive.
As soon as we got back to the ship I laid down and went to sleep without changing or anything. I woke up two hours later to go to dinner with Sarah and Katie, who I had gone shark diving with, and some of their friends. We went to this jazz restaurant called the Green Dolphin. A live band played and they were really good! I ordered Calamari as an appetizer and then wanted raviolis for dinner but they were out so I got phyllo parcels. I wasn’t sure what they were but the description sounded good and they turned out to be amazing! It was a breaded pocket stuffed with butternut and some other things I can’t remember. For dessert I got a chocolate truffle tort that was also amazing and in the end I got all the food and entertainment for about $40 US and I imagine it would cost five times more back home. We didn’t get out of there until almost 11 so I just headed back to the ship for bed.
Day 6:
I woke up because several people kept calling Andi because she was suppose to hike Table Mountain with them, but she had decided she didn’t want to go anymore. Finally they convinced her to go and since I was now awake I decided to tag along, but we only had about three minutes to get ready. I got dressed grabbed the $50 rand that I had left and my camera and we left. I didn’t grab water or sunscreen and I wasn’t sure how we would manage, but I could imagine coming to Cape Town without going to the top of Table Mountain. We caught a taxi just outside of the ship and they took us to the base of the mountain where the cable car was. I thought we could get water there but everyone was all ready to start the hike that moment. Andi and I took one look up at the mountain and thought, there is no way. So we stayed behind and decided to use Andi’s credit card to take the cable car up. The only problem was the huge line!
After waiting for about two hours it was finally our turn to get in the car! It was really neat because the floor rotated so that you could get all the different views. The car actually made it up in 2-3 minutes, which felt really fast. The view was spectacular from the top! We headed to the restaurant for lunch since we didn’t have time to eat anything before we came. The food wasn’t that great, but it didn’t matter because we were on the top of Table Mountain! After we ate we walked around looking at the different views and then decided to try and find the group we had came with that decided to hike. We found them with cold water in hand and they looked so happy to see us/the water. I couldn’t imagine doing that hike, one it gets to a certain point it looks like the mountain goes straight up. We showed them to the restaurant and sat with them as they ate. They had met a woman from Brazil as they were hiking and she ended up buying our group a really nice bottle of champagne. We talked to some other people at the top as well. I noticed that a lot of people want to know about our political views when they find out we are from the US.
We walked around the top and took some more pictures and then decided to make our way down. Those who hiked decided to take the cable car down with us. Just as we were about to get on, we saw these two people standing on the side of the mountain. We couldn’t figure out what they were doing at first, but then we realized they were going to base jump! It was a man and a woman and as they finished getting ready they gave each other a tight hug and a kiss and the guy moved to the place that he would be jumping from. I still couldn’t believe he was seriously about to jump off the side of this mountain but he did and miraculously got his parachute open just in time. After seeing he was okay the woman got set up for her jump and off she went! She also got her chute open in time, but I was seriously scarred for both of their lives. They actually ended up landing in the street below and traffic had to stop for them. After this we got in the car with no wait, which was really nice. We piled into another taxi and made it back to the ship.
At this point I decided to take the time to write my post cards because I knew I had to finish them before on ship time at 9. When this was done I dropped them in the box and went back to the mall to do some last minute shopping. I came back to the ship with all my stuff and found Megan so I decided to go back out with her. We shopped a little more and then got dinner at this Mexican place right by the ship that I had been wanting to since I got there. I was really craving some enchiladas but they weren’t on the menu, so I went for nachos. They were so good! I had some extra rand so I got a chocolate milkshake too. It took a long time to get our food and by the time we were done it was almost on ship time. I ran to a bookstore real quick to spend my last rand on a magazine and then got back on the ship.
As another incentive to get people back on time there was a choir performance by a local high school. I made it back just in time for this. They were AMAZING! I got some videos of a couple of their songs, I wish I could share them now. We did not want them to stop but after an hour they had to go. I went back to my room took some Dramamine and went to bed. I was awaken by an announcement that the ship had been issued a fog warning and could not leave at this time. We were suppose to leave at 11pm. They said this meant we could be stuck for a few minutes, hours, or maybe till the next day.
The next morning..
I woke up and didn’t feel the ship rocking and looked out the window and we were still in South Africa! I couldn’t see Table Mountain this time though because the fog was so thick. So I went up and ate breakfast and it was so frustrating to be sitting right out side my new favorite place and not be able to leave the ship! I think we ended up leaving the harbor around 11am. The seas have been pretty rocky since then, but I imagined them being worse.
So now we are on our way to Mauritius! And I will be a full 12 hours ahead of California time, such a strange feeling. So hopefully a new update after we leave there on the 4th.
2 comments:
What a wonderful experience you had in Africa. To be so close to the natural animal habitat is such a treasure. You will have these memories for many years to come. To learn of that large spider and its powerful web was especially interesting. I never knew its web was used for gun proof vests. How Grandma envies you. I can hardly wait to heaar firsthand all about your Semester at Sea. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it.
Love,
Grandma Neveux
I woke up early so I could read your blog believe it or not for the 2nd time! Everything here is status quo. Emily's team has a new cheer coach, so we expect to see major changes for this next competition. The change was needed. Middle school is hard for Emily to keep up with. It seems that there is alot more homework than from when you were in middle school. I heard alot of kids switched to being home schooled in the second semester, I wonder why, he, he. Anyway, she's hanging in there and misses you so much.
As I write this, I believe you are on your way to India and I look forward to your next blog update on Mauritus!
And again, we love you, miss you and are very proud of you!
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