Cape Town Day 4

Day 4!

We started off our Saturday by waking up at six to get ready and leaving around 7:15am for the day’s adventure…Cage Diving with the Great White Sharks! We drove about 2 ½ hours to shark ally where the most dense population of Great Whites of the world live. The drive was along the coast and through the mountains. It was a beautiful drive but a long drive. We made it to Great White Project right on time at 10:00am. We were provided breakfast and watched a little shark week that they had playing. There was a nervous excitement in the building. Around 11:00am we headed out to the harbor, put on life jackets and got on the boat. We then drove out about 15 minutes to where the sharks were. When we got there they talked a little more about what was going to happen and where to find food and the bathroom on the boat. They also asked if there were bigger groups that wanted to go together. The 4 of us said that we wanted to go together and so we went first. We got our wetsuits and wiggled and jumped and pulled our way into them, put on our little booties and masks and climbed into the cage, which was in the water. The water was cold and very salty. The way that the sharks come to the boat is through bait that is on the end of a rope. We just waited in the water for a shark to come. When a shark would come the guides would yell down down down and everyone in the cage is suppose to go down. The cage holds 5 people and is metal. Your feet can rest on the front of the cage but your hands have to be on the red bar under water or on the top of the cage, which is out of the water. To get down, you grab the red bar and pull yourself under water. We were in the cage for at least 20 minutes and saw 2 sharks. One of them actually came up and hit the cage. The bait is thrown out and when a shark comes it is pulled up to the cage so that is why the sharks hit the cage. It is really cool to be able to see them from both in the water and in the boat. Towards the end of our time in the cage I could feel myself starting to not feel well. I was not surprised by this and tried to prevent it by taking motion sickness tablets and ginger. Sad to say that is did not work. We got out of the cage and yes I did have to go get sick over the side of the boat. This happened three times during the four hours we were at sea. (Sorry if this is TMI but I promised that I would be honest with you on this blog!) Also while I was sitting in the boat, I got pooped on by a seagull. They seem to be just as bad here as they are at home. I stayed in my wetsuit to keep warm and sat on the edge of the boat for the rest of the trip. I was able to see sharks from in the boat but I do wish that I would have been able to enjoy the trip more if I had not felt so sick. Once everyone had their turn we packed up the boat and made the 15-minute drive back to land. We saw about 6 different sharks ranging in size from 10 feet to 7 feet. Once we got back we went inside and ate soup to warm ourselves up and we watched a video that was made of the trip. We then had the opportunity to buy the video and the 4 of us each bought one that we are excited to share with everyone at home. I would highly recommend doing it if you ever have the opportunity because it really is neat. We then headed back to where we are staying but stopped on the way for dinner at a seafood place and then walked over to a café for dessert. When we got back to out to our place I took a shower and enjoyed the Internet. Car update- we got a few pointers from people at home and we are able to get the car in reverse now! It was fun to push the car while it lasted though. Check back tomorrow for another crazy adventure update!