After saying my goodbyes to Lucas and his parents (who graciously brought me to the airport!) in the Buenos Aires airport, I boarded my plane for Capetown, South Africa. After my short 7 hour flight, I deboarded the plane in a new continent. On my way to the hostel, I had an interesting discussion with my shuttle driver about racial politics in this young democracy, which ended racial segregation only 12 years ago. Once I was settled in my hostel, I decided to explore Capetown on foot. I made my way to the waterfront, where I made a reservation to visit Robben Island, South Africa's version of Alcatraz, where Nelson Mandela was held in prison for 27 years. I also looked into cage diving with Great White sharks, and found a great deal, so I decided to make a reservation for the next day. Exhausted from all the travel, I headed back to my hostel to get some rest.
The next morning I was picked up bright and early for my shark dive. After a 2 hour ride along the coast, we boarded our boat and headed out to "Shark Alley", where the nearby colony of 40,000 seals makes shark citings secure throughout the year. After less than 30 minutes we saw our first shark! We all took turns being in the shark cage, and over the next 2 hours we spotted 6 different great white sharks, ranging in size from under 5 feet to over 15. It was a dream come true to get to see these animals so close. It was very dramatic, but not scary at all-- The sharks were very graceful, but not agressive. They took the tuna heads used as bait, but were clearly not the bloodthirsty killing machines they're made out to be. I got lots of great photos, both from the boat and withing the cage (which I'll post as soon as I can)
On our way back to Capetown, we stopped in Hermanus and saw several enormous whales from the beach. I'm still amazed by how easy and predictable it is to be able to see such huge animals here in South Africa!
The next morning I headed up to hike Table Mountain with Stephen, a nice German guy I met at my hostel. From the base of the mountain all of Capetown was visible, and the entire ocean was covered with clouds-- it was quite a spectacular view! As we headed up the mountain the clouds began to clear, slowly. We reached the top of the 3,000 foot mountain in a bit over an hour, and were rewarded by a panaramic view of all the surrounding area-- including the Africa's tip, the Cape of Good Hope. We hiked around the top of the mountain (which, as it's name suggests, has a flat plateau on top) for a few hours before heading down.
In the afternoon I headed back to the waterfront to catch the ferry to Robben Island, only to be disappointed that the ferry was canceled due to bad weather :(
The bad weather continued the next morning, when I boarded my shuttle out of Capetown, and it rained on and off all day. Since the weather was so bad, and since I only have 2 weeks to get to Johanessburg, I decided to travel the entire day--all the way to South Africa's "Wild Coast", where hopefully I would find better weather. I stayed in the bus 14 hours--the only highlight was getting my first glimpse of the Indian Ocean. I stopped to sleep in Port Elizabeth, and continued another 5 hours the next day, where I arrived in Cintsa, a small town right on the beach.
The sky was still overcast, but I went for a walk on the beach, and was rewarded by beautiful waves, new species of birds which I had never seen, and unspoilt beach. On the way back I met three nice African ladies trying to cross the River-- they were speaking amongst themselves in their own language. When I asked them what their language was called, they told me they spoke Xhosan (which cannot be spelled correctly in English because it begins with a "click" which, when I tried to pronounce, was promptly laughed at by the locals)
In the afternoon I played pool at the hostel and signed up for surfing lessons for the next day. I had a great time meeting new people in the bar-- there are tons of English and Australians here, but I've met only a few Americans. I headed back to my tent (I'm camping) and went to sleep.
I headed out to the beach bright and early this morning, armed with surfboard, wetsuit, and sunblock. After a short lesson on the beach we headed out to try out our skills. It was pretty difficult, and very tiring, but I managed to stand up several times. After lunch, I went for a short kayak ride in the river, and surfed for a bit more without much success (the waves had changed alot, making it more difficult). I'm going to try to go mountain biking tomorrow.
My plan is to continue up the coast into Swaziland, then further north into Kruger National Park before heading out to Nepal. I'm kicking myself for not giving myself more time in South Africa, but am trying to make the most of the time I have.
I can't post pictures from here but will post them as soon as I can.
-Travis
The next morning I was picked up bright and early for my shark dive. After a 2 hour ride along the coast, we boarded our boat and headed out to "Shark Alley", where the nearby colony of 40,000 seals makes shark citings secure throughout the year. After less than 30 minutes we saw our first shark! We all took turns being in the shark cage, and over the next 2 hours we spotted 6 different great white sharks, ranging in size from under 5 feet to over 15. It was a dream come true to get to see these animals so close. It was very dramatic, but not scary at all-- The sharks were very graceful, but not agressive. They took the tuna heads used as bait, but were clearly not the bloodthirsty killing machines they're made out to be. I got lots of great photos, both from the boat and withing the cage (which I'll post as soon as I can)
On our way back to Capetown, we stopped in Hermanus and saw several enormous whales from the beach. I'm still amazed by how easy and predictable it is to be able to see such huge animals here in South Africa!
The next morning I headed up to hike Table Mountain with Stephen, a nice German guy I met at my hostel. From the base of the mountain all of Capetown was visible, and the entire ocean was covered with clouds-- it was quite a spectacular view! As we headed up the mountain the clouds began to clear, slowly. We reached the top of the 3,000 foot mountain in a bit over an hour, and were rewarded by a panaramic view of all the surrounding area-- including the Africa's tip, the Cape of Good Hope. We hiked around the top of the mountain (which, as it's name suggests, has a flat plateau on top) for a few hours before heading down.
In the afternoon I headed back to the waterfront to catch the ferry to Robben Island, only to be disappointed that the ferry was canceled due to bad weather :(
The bad weather continued the next morning, when I boarded my shuttle out of Capetown, and it rained on and off all day. Since the weather was so bad, and since I only have 2 weeks to get to Johanessburg, I decided to travel the entire day--all the way to South Africa's "Wild Coast", where hopefully I would find better weather. I stayed in the bus 14 hours--the only highlight was getting my first glimpse of the Indian Ocean. I stopped to sleep in Port Elizabeth, and continued another 5 hours the next day, where I arrived in Cintsa, a small town right on the beach.
The sky was still overcast, but I went for a walk on the beach, and was rewarded by beautiful waves, new species of birds which I had never seen, and unspoilt beach. On the way back I met three nice African ladies trying to cross the River-- they were speaking amongst themselves in their own language. When I asked them what their language was called, they told me they spoke Xhosan (which cannot be spelled correctly in English because it begins with a "click" which, when I tried to pronounce, was promptly laughed at by the locals)
In the afternoon I played pool at the hostel and signed up for surfing lessons for the next day. I had a great time meeting new people in the bar-- there are tons of English and Australians here, but I've met only a few Americans. I headed back to my tent (I'm camping) and went to sleep.
I headed out to the beach bright and early this morning, armed with surfboard, wetsuit, and sunblock. After a short lesson on the beach we headed out to try out our skills. It was pretty difficult, and very tiring, but I managed to stand up several times. After lunch, I went for a short kayak ride in the river, and surfed for a bit more without much success (the waves had changed alot, making it more difficult). I'm going to try to go mountain biking tomorrow.
My plan is to continue up the coast into Swaziland, then further north into Kruger National Park before heading out to Nepal. I'm kicking myself for not giving myself more time in South Africa, but am trying to make the most of the time I have.
I can't post pictures from here but will post them as soon as I can.
-Travis
posted by Travis Snow @ 8:49 AM
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