South Africa in Slow Motion...

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After a long night at a coffee shop in the Johannesburg airport my journey was close at hand. I hit the ground in Durban, South Africa early in the morning and it was hard to miss Alex with his two year beard and a huge smile waiting to greet me. We headed back the boat in the harbor and basically ran errands and prepared the boat for one of the most difficult stretches of coastline in the world over the next couple days. As usual Alex knew everyone around the marina and had some cool friends which we hung out with during my short stay there.

Late Tues. night we had our last of the crew come in from the US. Diego sailed with Alex from the Galapagos Islands for a few months and has been on boats ever since. He’s staying on Bubbles until the grand finale in the British Virgin Islands, in which we're having a huge party for all the crew that sailed with Bubbles over the last few years.

Once he was in town we decided to take a break from the boat work and do a little diving down the coast. Luckily for us we were an hour’s drive from some amazing shark diving with possible Tiger Shark encounters. Everyone was pretty pumped for this and we headed south the dive with African Dive Adventures.

The first dive was pretty nice with good visibility, a huge turtle, and 6 Raggy Tooth Sharks, which were about 7’ long and supposedly harmless. You could swim inches from them and they would just chill out and look you right in the eye. This was a great warm up for what we had to come. Between dives we saw a few Humpback Whales and a pod of dolphins, which is always a nice bonus. As we waited for the next dive we got a serious briefing from the dive masters that put what we were about to do in perspective. There were very blunt about possibly getting bitten if you did the wrong things on this dive. It was a baited dive with about 50 to 100 Oceanic Black Tip Sharks and a possible encounter with A Tiger Shark which will approach 20’ long. In short they basically said if you act like prey you will get bitten and if you don’t you won’t. Seemed simple enough and we hit the water with Sharks already on top of us.

I’ll admit at first I was not very comfortable with the situation as there were sharks coming in from every direction going after the bait ball and in the process bumping into you numerous times. After I few minutes I began to thoroughly enjoy the show and got up right next to the food to be as close to the action as possible. Part way through the drive I saw a huge Tiger Shark approach from below, but he seemed pretty nervous and only came within about 20’. This was my first shark dive and by far the most exciting dive I have been on in my entire life.



Our stay in Durban seemed to keep being extended due to rough weather at sea and I was growing very impatient and felt I might miss some of what I came to see here in Africa. After a quick session on Google I located one of the top national parks in the world only 2 hrs. Flight away and decided I would leave the group as they made their way down the coast and explore some other parts of South Africa that Alex had already passed by. Early the next morning I was already airborne and headed for Kruger National Park in search of the Africa’s Big Five (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Cape Buffalo, and Rhino) Knowing the park was the size of Rhode Island I had a lot of ground to cover and figured renting my own car would be the way to do it. After reaching the park it was only minutes before seeing my first animals as a small heard of Cape Buffalo crossed the road in front of my. Over the next 48 hours I drove over 300 miles through the park from sun up to sundown and saw everything I ever dreamed a safari like this would behold. 7 Lion Sightings, 2 leopards, and countless numbers of every other games species in the park. The only thing I missed was a Cheetah and apparently due to the landscape and the lack of huge open areas in this park they are almost impossible to find.

I left the park very content with my visit and headed up towards a huge mountain range a couple hours away which held the Blythe River Canyon, which is one of the largest in Africa. The drive was breathtaking as I headed around and through the entire range. I spent that night in my car at a gas station as I headed south for my morning micro flight that I had scheduled.

I had a lot to cover over the next day as I had my flight over the park in very small micro light airplane weighing only 500 pounds. We flew for an hour over the edge of Kruger National Park and along a large river that borders the park. It was pretty cool seeing some of the same animals from the air, but to be honest 15 minutes of flying would of gave me the same satisfaction.

After my flight I B lined it for the Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Rescue Center. I’m really not big on any sort of zoo-like attractions, but I had a feeling this would be different and I wanted to see our closest genetic relatives in action. This park had 3 enclosures spanning around 40 Acres with 3 separate family groups. On the way in there was a group of small monkeys blocking the road, which I took as good sign of what was to come. It was truly amazing seeing how these chimps interacted with each other as family groups. I was shocked in seeing some of the human like qualities they shared with us. There was a 65 year old chimp in one of the enclosures that was not the Alpha male anymore, although he appeared to be best friends with the alpha. When other chimps were doing something he did not like he would actually point out the problem to the alpha and directs him to take care of it and he usually would. Most of these little mishaps usually ended with a nice little hug. I could have sat and watched them for hours. The guide on our tour made a point to let us know some stories of how some of these chimps arrived here. It made me sick to my stomach hearing these stories. Many of the Alpha Chimps are shot for meat in the wild and then there babies taken to sell on the black markets. Most of them end of as a pet while they are young and they get killed or given away to a circus when they are too much to care for. One of the chimps here was tied up with a metal band around his neck for 16 years outside of a night club in Angola, where he was given alcohol, cigarettes and countless drugs. He came to the center with no hair and with major addictions he had to break no different than us. This experience gave me a whole new outlook on zoos, circus, and any wild animals that are kept in captivity in similar circumstances. For animals with high intellects such as chimps, gorillas, orangutans, and dolphins just to name a few it is just wrong to be anywhere but the wild.

I left the center around 2 in the afternoon and have an 8 hour drive south to get to a town called Sodawana Bay which is within a huge untouched area of national park along the eastern shoreline of South Africa which borders Mozambique. It sounded like a cool spot in the guide book for a dive or too, so a small detour on my way back to the boat was well worth it.

Being in South Africa for the last 6 days was not your typical Africa experience as it seems they make an effort to keep the poverty out of the sight of the major tourist areas and all major roads. My journey south took me through a small country called Swaziland, which gave me a true taste of the real Africa again. The border crossing alone told the story of this country as cattle roamed freely in front of my car only feet in front of the gate. The country side was stunning as I traveled through tops of smooth rolling mountains covered with terraced farming and small villages everywhere. It felt good to get a true feel for the real Africa for a while.

A good road trip would not be complete without at least one flat, which a huge pot hole was gracious enough to leave me. The flat occurred in a pretty rough looking area and with night fast approaching, I felt it best to get this switched and back on the road ASAP. Being the only white person around the area I sure would be a target after night fall if I was stuck there. Luckily I had barely enough space to fit the jack under the frame and with the help of a few kids from a nearby house the tire was changed fairly quickly and within a few hours more I was out of Swaziland and a few hours from my hostel for the night.

The hostel was rustic at best, but a bed sure beats the front seat of the VM Polo any day so I’m not complaining. I headed to the beach early in the morning where 5 dive company had some make shift canopy’s on the beach which held all the gear. Though I’m not really that into diving, I feel it’s a great way to experience an area of the world and see what the great blue has to offer. The dive was average at best, but we did get to swim with some dolphins on the way out, which makes it amazing in my book. Rather than do a second dive as I had planned I took a walk down the sand dunes covered shoreline without a permanent structure for 100 miles. This was one of those spots that instantly strikes you as off the beaten path and a place I typically could spend days, but I had no time for that as the Captain had called and I had to make my way another 13 hours down the coast by 6 am the next morning.

With 7 hours driving, a short flight, a rental car exchanges and a 5 hour sleep in my car I had made it to the Knysna Heads which are a breathtaking entrance into the harbor. I was in position and ready just as Alex approached with Bubbles and got some great shots from a few hundred feet above him. It was strange to think that in all the time I was gone they had been at sea fighting 10’+ waves and chilling weather. I think I made the right call as I would have been sea sick and pucking most of that run for sure.

It was a great feeling to be back with the crew again, especially in this amazing harbor, which was the nicest I have ever seen. We pulled right up alongside the boardwalk area in front of a really nice outdoor mall. This area is clearly a tourist destination for the wealthy in South Africa. People keep passing by the boat all days stopping and staring at us pondering the question of who these rough looking guys are, where did they come from, and where are they going. We had some great conversations with many onlookers and actually met an American couple from Indiana, whose best friend grew up in Alex’s hometown of 20 people. Guess it really is a small world after all.

As I have clearly figured out on this trip boat repair is a constant process and there was something to do every day. Alex was always on the phone lining up parts and trying to figure out how to fix things himself. At the moment the Auto Pilot is out, Fridge doesn’t work, the motor is shot in the water maker, the dingy has a hole in it, and the oil is in need of changing. This doesn’t include the many small items that are a constant burden. Although sailing around the world is something I would like to do someday seeing all the behind the scenes work involved deters me a little bit. I’m sure I could handle it though.

As Alex was working on the boat the rest of the crew and I headed down the road an hour for the largest Bungee Jump in the world at 700+ feet. I knew this was coming at some point and had been a little nervous everything it crossed my mind. The drop was off of a very tall river bridge a few hundred meters off the Indian Ocean. Truly an epic spot for a Bungee Jump. As were approached the jump site, they blared the techno music louder than a dance club and got everyone pumped and dancing into the mood of what approached. It was a nice way to ease the nerves, which were within me at full throttle. The last time I felt like this was when I rode my last bull a couple years back. It’s an amazing feeling to have, but very uncomfortable at the same time. As they tied me up for the jump they had a calming way about them that put you at ease and before you knew it you were off that bridge without a second thought. This jump was much more thrilling than skydiving, but still does not compare to riding a bull and I really don’t think anything ever will.

As I write this blog today the first clouds since my arrival in Knysna have rolled in and there is a slight mist over the harbor. There was no big adventure or stories made today, but I am truly content with where I am and the people I am with. I’m a lucky man to be able to do a trip like this. As I think back over the last 10 days it amazes me how the world slows down for you when you are traveling. This always seems to happen to me when I cram so many remarkable experiences and interactions with people into such a small block of time. It’s one of the few times in my life I can truly live in the moment and lose all worries about the rest of my life.

What are the plans for the rest of the trip? No worries mate, Well figure that one out tomorrow……

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