a day of sharks, penguins, and stunning views

(Cody on the boat, as a shark swims against the cage) 

Well we are back from our shark cage diving experience with all our limbs (amazingly)! 

We were picked up from our hotel at 5:15am and driven to Simon’s Town. From there we headed out on the boat with African Shark Eco Charters and headed to Seal Island, which was about a half hour boat ride from the harbour. Once there, we watched for natural predations (sharks hunting the seals on the surface), which mostly involved a lot of splashing, and was very difficult to photograph as it was incredibly quick, and you never knew where the next attack was going to happen. It was pretty amazing to watch though. 

Then we towed a decoy seal behind the boat, hoping for an attack which didn't  come. 

Then it was time to get suited up and into the cage. Getting suited up involves trying to cram your body in to a wetsuit, booties, and hood quickly, because while you are trying to wrestle the neoprene up around your thighs, everyone else (who isn’t getting ready yet, because it isn’t their turn) is shouting SHARK SHARK! It was a bit intense! So wetsuit, booties, hood, mask, weight belt…and GO! Into the cage! 

Inside the cage they pass you a regulator (a tube through which you breathe), and you are supposed to put your hands on a horizontal bar inside the cage, and hook your feet under another horizontal bar near the bottom of the cage to keep you from floating. And then you watch the bait for sharks. It sounds relatively simple. 

Well first of all, it turns out that I am more scared of being locked in a cage and trying to breathe through a regulator than I expected. So the first sixty seconds or so, I spent having a panic attack and trying to gasp for air at the surface of the cage. 

Ok, so then I’ve somewhat got my breathing under control, so I better get my hands and feet on these bars. The cage is tied up against the boat and is rocking in the swell, and banging against the boat, and your body is trying to float, despite the weight belt. And you are grabbing on to anything, trying to keep your body upright and then you realize that isn’t the bar inside the cage that you are supposed to be holding on to, that is the cage and a shark could pass by at any point and rip your arm off. Ok, so then you find the right bar inside the cage to hold on to, but the bar at the bottom of the cage is way below you and there is no way you can get your feet down there, but now your legs have floated up behind you and are sticking out of the back of the cage (the cage is up against the boat, but the boat has a very shallow bottom, so sharks can approach from all sides). So you pull your legs back in to the cage before they are severed from your body, and manage to hook them under that bar. Ok, now you are ready! 

Then you watch, and wait. The cage is rocking in the waves and banging up against the boat. You are gripping the bars with all your strength trying to stay in place, at the same time trying to watch 360 degrees around you. The water seems so dark, then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there is a massive shark gliding past. Wow. We saw two sharks pass by the cage. They are amazing. Silent. Huge. Graceful. Stunning. 

The next batch of people to get in the cage had a great white swim right up against the cage. Cody of course was disappointed that we weren’t in the cage at that moment. I am sure that if it had come that close to me, it would of inevitably eaten one of my random limbs protruding from the cage. 

Cody went into the cage again for a second round, I had already ripped half my wetsuit off, and was exhausted from simply trying to be in the cage I opted not to go again. Cage diving is definitely harder than it looks on tv, but also much more amazing. He saw a beauty shark come right up and at the bait against the surface of the water.  

Finally, reluctantly, it was time to head in. On the way back we saw southern right whales breaching and slapping their fins on the water. 

From there, we headed to Boulders Beach where there is a colony of African Penguins. It is a stunning beach, with adorable little penguins running all over the place. Swimming, climbing on rocks, waddling around the beach. I could of spent all day there! 

We continued south from Cape Town to Cape of Good Hope. We stopped for lunch, and then did a bit of exploring. There were nice paths for walking, and beautiful scenic views. There were tons of walking trails, and I also wished I could spend all day exploring! It reminded me of Capri, Italy (partly because we took a funicular to get to the top) because of it’s beautiful windy trails over stunning rocky beach views. Really pretty place. 

We took the scenic route back to Cape Town, along the gorgeous coastline. We arrived back to our hotel exhausted, but it was a great day full of many amazing and beautiful things! 

We checked out our photos from the day, had dinner and celebratory margarita, and again discussed how amazing the sharks were. 

We were supposed to go cage diving again in another area the next day, however the tour has been cancelled due to ocean conditions. We have tentatively rebooked that for Sunday morning, however the conditions don't look much better, so that will likely be cancelled as well. We are being positive, and grateful that we were able to get out and see the sharks at all. 

Today we will do a bit of laundry, check out the aquarium and explore the V & A Waterfront, a lovely area of shops, markets and restaurants. 

(Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach)

(At Cape Point)

(At Cape of Good Hope)