SHARKS SHARKS WHALES

Today was incredible from start to finish. We took off from Cape Town at 530am to head down through Hermanus to Gansbaai about 2 hours away. The road took us up and down through huge mountains and the vinyards. It was a little culture shock going through all the shanty towns on the outskirts of Cape Town though. Everyone was lining the sides of the roads hitch hiking their way into town for work. I can't imagine how many people get hit on the roads over here.

We arrived at the shark place around 8am and spent an hour eating lunch and getting briefed on the boat and safety information. The whole organization was very professional and they definitely had their stuff together. They launch all of the boats with a tractor every time they use them; there are no docks where you take off from. The ride out was about a half hour and it was clear as can be, a little cold with building winds.

We anchored just outside the reef; it was interesting how they did it. Since the wind builds every day, they actually anchor and run lines from both the bow and the stern so the boat sits beam to the wind and waves. They can then affix the cage to the leeward side of the boat. I'd like to take a moment to thank Carrier for 5 years of vomit comet training. I would guess that 30% of the people out there lost their free breakfast. Once we settled they started chumming the water with a sardine mixture and some giant fish heads. Cue more puking.

After about 20 minutes the first shark came by and then another 4 within 10 minutes. They put us in the cage 8 at a time and I went with the second group. Willie opted to stay onboard. Feel free to tease him on our return. Not going to lie - it was freezing cold and super choppy so when I first got in, it was spooky. Not to mention that while I was still trying to find the bar to hold onto, the attack of the day came and the damn shark chased the bait right up onto the cage! Too bad I wasn't ready with the camera for that one but you can see from below we managed some great shots.

They kept us out there until half the boat was prone on the deck in agony and all the sandwiches were free for the picking for the few of us still standing. We hit the launch around 1230pm and they drove the boat right onto the trailer and out of the water. Totally worth every penny and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Once we got our stuff together we went to the guest house we are staying at tonight. There were whale watching signs along the road but we didn't really know what they meant until we turned onto the road to our hotel and saw whales right out of our car window. Right there off the shore. A whole bunch of southern right whales just flipping around and slapping their fins on the water and making blow hole sounds. Unreal. We finally finished driving the block to the house to find one of the most beautiful places ever. Wrap around windows looking right at the sea. As in, we checked in while we were looking at whales. Our room is on the sea side and we can hear the whales flopping about and breathing right from bed!

Animal count for today:
Cows
Sharks
Southern right whales
4 dogs; one taking himself for a walk
1 white rabbit (no pocket watch; on time)

Tomorrow we head inland to Oudtshoorn for some spelunking and ostrich riding. That may be the only time that I will ever be able to say that sentence!