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Published: February 23rd 2007
I haven't updated this in awhile so I apologize for that- But I guess it means I've been busy which is always a good thing. I'm trying to remember where I left off last time, but I think I'll just talk about my last week and hope I don't miss anything or get my dates messed up! Last weekend was pretty quiet as not too much was going on, I actually spent a lot of it doing homework! On Sunday we decided to go on a leisurely walk to a nature center thinking it would be like an hour round trip, well that was a lie. When we asked where it was people made it sound like it was very close rather it was about 8 miles or something away and took 2.5 hours to get there!!! We got there and it was too late in the afternoon to go into the reserve to see the waterfalls as they were another hour walk in and then an additional hour walk back, which we were not up for. So we had a milkshake and the staff was very friendly and hooked up with another group who had called a shuttle bus so
we were able to get a ride home at least. However, I would love to go back and explore as it looks very exciting and we have heard its Amazing inside.
This week I went to class as usual, nothing too exciting there except I do have my first paper due on Monday and instead of working on that today I decided to go shark Diving! We got picked up at 6am and drove 2.5 hours to the launch site, had a quick breakfast, a 35 minute boat ride and then anchored and waited for the sharks to come! After about an hour and a half of waiting we got some consistent activity and got suited up in wetsuits. 5 people were allowed in the cage at a time and we had to take turns but pretty much had as much time as we wanted in the cage. Unfortunately, the water was very murky and you really couldn't see much from inside cage - I saw a tail from inside and that was about it. However the sharks were anywhere from about 2-6 feet away from us. You aren’t snorkeling or scubaing in the cage by the way, the
guides watch for the shark lure it in with some "bait" (I’ll explain in a second) and tell you to go under and look a certain way. So you hold your breath and watch. I put bait in quotes because the sharks don't actually get to eat the bait they just use it to get it close to the boat- supposedly more environmentally friendly because the sharks aren’t getting used to getting fed. Don’t worry though it was not a lost cause because you couldn't see the sharks from the cage, we had amazing views from the boat - see pictures. The sharks were a lot more docile then I thought they were be- they weren’t aggressive at all and actually fairly timid of people in the cage, they were much closer to the boat when the cage wasn't in the water or no one was in it. We spent about 4 hours on the boat and then were brought back to shore. It was an excellent company that I would highly recommend and go with again. They were shark friendly, friendly staff, and they fed us well!
Also this week I went to Watergarden again to volunteer and it
was Amazing this time. I worked with the little ones this week and they were so much fun. We played net ball which is like basket ball and speed ball combined as well as some other Afrikaans games. They also worked with teaching me to count to 10 in Afrikaans and are determined that they will help me each week until I get it. It was so fun.
Tomorrow we go to see penguins so I'll update this again tomorrow or sunday with more stories and pictures- sorry so long!
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Ashley
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Yay! Sharks! That looks so exciting. I'm glad that you didn't get eaten. That wouldn't have been much fun. Hehe.