SHARK ATTACK!! (and some wineries)

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Against all initial advice (well from everyone save Freeman) I decided to go cage diving with the GREAT WHITES in a small town not too far from where we were staying in Hermanus. And damn....what an experience. There is actually not that much to talk about just check out the photos.

Haley, Freeman and I all decided to go (Natalie was not feeling so hot). The small fishing village of Gansbaai (where we would dive from) is only a short drive from Haley's parents house in Hermanus. Dyer and Geyser Islands, just off the coast, are home to a large colony of over fifty thousand seals and are thus a favorite feeding ground for the Great White shark. The deep channel between these two islands is known as Shark Alley and is acknowledged as one of the best places in the world to view the Great White. If you have ever watch any sort of shark program you have probably heard of shark alley. It was one of those moments that I have mentioned before, the kind of instance that really reminds you of where you are. I'm sitting on a boat right now, about to get into the same water as those crazy guys that I have seen so many times on Shark Week (National Geographic or Discovery tv series). We (Haley, Freeman, and I) were all very excited (to say the least)!

It works just like you'd imagine: we parked ourselves in shark alley between the two seal islands and started chumming....shortly after (maybe 15 minutes) and HUGE (about 15 ft) GREAT WHITE SHARK just appears out of no where and it going for our bait (a Tuna Fish). Everyone goes crazy and rushes to the side of the boat...it was really pretty damn exciting. This goes on and on for about 6 hours, we had maybe 10 different large great whites come to our boat. Each just as exciting as the next. We'd be sitting around just kind of scanning for sharks or chit-chatting..maybe 20 or 30 minutes would go by without any action, then the captain would give a blood curdling yell..."SHARK!!!!!" and you would jump up and check things out. We had a large diving cage that was attached to the side of the boat. Everyone would take turns in this cage (7 at a time), a typical turn lasting for about 30 or 45 minutes - plenty of time to see plenty of action. When the sharks would get close you would just go under water (the cage was only 3/4 submerged) and check out the shark. Often it would come right up to the cage and bump into it.

This is something that I would recommend to anyone and would most likely do it again

** end of shark diving **

A few days later Haley's parents drove us out to Franschhoek. It was a stunning beautiful drive (see the pics) and I really could not imagine a better wine region. It was a small valley surrounded by huge mountains on all sides. Beautiful small wineries and a really cute main street with little shops and cafes - I was actually a little upset with Haley that she didn't take me to Franschhoek earlier. If I had time I would have spend a weekend there (next time!).

Our time in Hermanus has unfortunately come to and end. It has really been a blast, between hanging out at the beach, shark diving, and touring the wineries of Franschhoek I am really disappointed to leave...but they I remember....I am heading out on a SAFARI next!!

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