Last weekend I decided it was time to try out the most popular ultimate-adventure experience in Cape Town; Great white shark cage diving and who better to show me how it's done than Ola Lundemo: marine biologist and coastal guide, previous researcher & scientist for Afri Oceans Conservation Alliance and Mike Rutzen: 15 years in the business of Cage Shark diving, featured in 'Beyond fear' (National Geographic) and 'Sharkman' (Discovery). Both these shark specialists are two of the very rare people who are qualified to teach the prestigious Great White Shark Distinctive Specialty PADI course.
A two hour drive from Cape Town is the small fishing town, Gansbaai, known as the great white shark capital of the world. It's still the cheapest place in the world to shark cage dive and yet it's a multi-million Rand business. In Mike's office hang photos of celebrities aboard his boat -the Barracuda - after cage shark diving. Some of whom I recognize: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Half hour later I am aboard the Barracuda being whisked out to sea as the sun rises over a calm sea. We couldn't have hoped for better visibility and sea conditions. As chum (a mixture of dead fish) is thrown into the water, 4 - 5 metre Great whites start to circle the boat. They look graceful and beautiful as they effortlessly glide through the water attracted by the scent of the chum.
As I don my wetsuit and the cage is lowered into the water, I remember going to Seal Island a year ago to see Great whites breaching - a hunting tactic where sharks propel themselves from the deep and jump out the water as they attack seals. I can't help noticing that the top of the cage is level with the water. Surely a shark could easily get in? But I'm assured by the crew that in 15 years of cage diving this has never happened and the bait will be thrown a distance away from the cage.
The rest of the experience was a blur of adrenalin, cold water and powerful shark leaps. One minute the shark was floating past the cage eyeing me out as I watched it through my mask and the next it was flicking itself towards fish bait with a jaw full or razor sharp teeth. When the cold water started to get to me I got out grabbed my camera and snapped away from the boat. At one point a shark hit the cage front on after a leap. The divers in the cage popped up gasping in excitement. The strength of the cage proved itself though. I could see why many of Zafari's clients describe this as the "best experience of their life".
Lightning Storm in Cape Town
7 March 2010
Unlike the Gauteng province and other parts of South Africa, Cape Town rarely experiences thunder and lightning. A lightning storm 2 years ago in the dry summer caused fires on the mountains and had some people evacuating their homes. So when lightning is around Cape Town residents see it as a special event. The beginning of March in Cape Town saw temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius. The weekend of the Argus mountain biking race had an unusually extreme temperature of 46 degrees Celsius! In this heat a storm was brewing and on the 7th March it broke over Greenpoint stadium in Cape Town's CBD. The stadium, which is lit up at night, was illuminated to a heavenly glow as lightning stuck right over it. The next morning it was the talk of the city and made the papers.
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