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Published: April 1st 2008
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The first thing that hits you about Cape Town is the imposing monolith of Table Mountain which dominates the view from anywhere in the City. The flat summit is often covered in a thin layer of cloud which pours off the edge like white water only to disappear just below the cliff edge; this phenomenon is such a frequent occurrence that the locals have named it the table cloth. Despite my spectacular surroundings I spent my first couple of days away from Cape Town.
On my first morning I joined a Cape peninsula Tour which proved a convenient way to see the highlights of the cape. My first stop was Duiker Island which is accessed by boat from the mainland and is home to hundreds of seals, despite seeing them many times before their playful antics in the water and utter lack of coordination on land never fail to amuse. The same can be said for the Jackass Penguin which inhabited the next stop at Boulders National Park in large numbers, apparently they are being renamed the “African Penguin”; I think the current name suits them quite well and I don’t really see the point. Further up the coast we came
across a troop of baboons, one of which had stolen a mobile phone (they steal anything unattended on the off chance its edible) and proceeded to eat/chew into a complete mess. I only wish I had had the number for that phone as no doubt ringing it would have elicited a good response. Later we climbed Cape Point and had the obligatory photo at the Cape of Good Hope, Africa’s most south westerly point.
The following day I travelled up to Tokai Forest just North of Cape Town, stunning views and forest scenery was the setting for four hours of possibly the best single track mountain biking I’ve ever done. It’s always a bit depressing how other countries do these things so much better than the UK. It was mid afternoon when I was dropped back at the Hostel and rather foolishly I decided to climb Table Mountain that afternoon. The route I took up Platteklip Gorge was a near vertical rock staircase reminisant of Frodo’s route into Mordor. With the morning bike ride my legs were certainly feeling the climb about 500m up but after a 1.5 hour climb I made it to the 1000m+ summit. The views back
over Cape Town and along the peninsula made the climb more than worthwhile even if my legs didn’t think so. On my final morning in cape Town I went back up Table mountain and did the 112m abseil off the edge, which was good fun if over a bit quickly. (highest commercial abseil in the world apparently)
The next stop on my trip was Gansbaai a couple of hours down the coast from Cape Town, this is world renound as the best place to see Great White Sharks in their natural environment which was the aim of my stop there. Just off the coast lies Dyer Island, which together with Geuser Island is home to over 60,000 seals. The seals feed in the channel between the two islands which has become known as Shark Alley. I headed out on a small boat called Barracuda on the 15 minute trip away from the coast. As soon as we anchored the boat crew started chumming the water by throwing buckets of blood into the water. While we were changing into our wet suits (to cope with the 12 degree water) the six man cage was being lowered over the side into the
water. Almost immediately a huge three meter Great White swam by the boat which prompted the boat crew to hurry us into the water. Once we were positioned in the cage the crew threw large chunks of Tuna attached to a rope into the water away from the cage than dragged it back past the cage. Almost immediately we were told to dive & I plunged down into the freezing water to be greeted almost by a 3.5m shark swimming directly toward me. He veered off as the chum was pulled from the water but must have been only two feet from the cage. This process continued for the next 10 minutes with sharks either nosing the cage or shooting off to one side. At the end of this period, having being frustrated once before by a side attack one shark dived and came vertically up to successfully catch the bait & refused to let go, it span, twisted and thrashed right beside the length of the cage for about 15 seconds before the rope finally gave way. Having a predator of that size in the throes of a battle for food was both breathtaking and exhilarating, especially when the
tail and body was bashing against the cage inches away. You had to remember to move your hands away from the bars when the fins came through. After our stint in the cage the other divers took their turn, which gave me the opportunity to view the action from the boat deck. I got to have two further dives in the cage each as incredible as the last. An unforgettable experience…
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Mazza
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April Fool
How on earth am I to believe you were that close to a shark and survived on a day like today? Awesome stories!