Great Whites and Whales !

I just came back from a trip to South Africa with my lady. It was a treat for our 10th wedding anniversary. We flew to Johannesburg then transfer straight to Cape Town. Spent 3 days there.We rented a car and a GPS which was really useful. It saved us a lot of time and arguments. I did a lot of driving. I managed to get a manual shift which I love to drive even though it was just a little Toyota. Still lots of fun. Some scenery along the way.

We visited a vineyard for lunch. It was very nice but unfortunately I had to control my wine intake.

Breakfast at the Hotel was great...

Er.. plants...

There were people kite surfing in the bay where we stayed...they are pretty brave as it was freezing and there are great whites sharks swimming around..

The second day, we hit Table Mountain, tourist stuff but its an amazing place.

The last day in Cape Town we went to a small town about 2 hours away to go whale watching. I was tempted to do the great white cage diving buit was too damn cold and I figure it might turn me off surfing and wakeboarding.  But frankly I was too chicken shit to go.

The boat told us out about 20mins to a bay where sometimes the whales hang out. All of a sudden, they yelled out whales !! They stopped the engines and drifted closer. Then the whales all came over and surrounded the boat. It was amazing, they are so graceful and gentle. They popped out all around the boat to look at us and play with the boat.

After we left the whales, they drive the boat to the famous Dyer Island. This is where they shoot all those Great White sharks jumping out of the water. Breaching as they call it. As soon as we were about 500 meters from the island, this smell hits you like a baseball bat. Seals have been here for hundreds of years, and there are at least 50,000 - 100,000of them if not more. Just imagine all that seal and bird shit over a hundred years would smell like. Not very nice I can tell you. We hit the corridor of death between the island and a rock out crop. That's where the sharks patrol to prey on the seals. The seals chase the boat to check us out. They are not afraid of humans at all. Understandable as they literially swim with the sharks all the time !

We managed to drive pass those shake dive boats and actually saw the great whites in action. The guys in the case looked uncomfortable to say the least. Having seen what they do, I am now interested to try it.... next time !