Diving with the Great White Sharks

Still cannot believe I did this!

Just two and a half hours’ drive from Cape Town, you’ll find a company called Marine Dynamics, situated in Kleinbaai…the hub for the Great White Sharks. Upon arrival, my two colleagues and I received a very warm welcome from the Marine Dynamics team and they directed us to the restaurant where a delicious breakfast was ready for us. Kelly, the Marine Biologist from Australia, then briefed us on the company and the work they are involved in. She was very enthusiastic about the work they do and it all resonated in the manner in which she delivered the information to us. She ensured us that we would be safe and there was no need to be afraid. Apparently the most dangerous part of our day was our drive to Kleinbaai!

As we left the restaurant, we started feeling nervous, but quickly ‘convinced’ one another that "we got this"! The crew members assisted us with our life jackets and water jackets before heading out to the boat, Slashfin that was awaiting us for our diving experience. Slashfin was purposely built for shark cage diving. This means it contains similar qualities of the Great White Shark such as "its sleekness, elegance, power and steadiness in order to enable the boat to slice through water and to endure extreme sea conditions" (Marine Dynamics, 2015). Off we sailed and along the way we experienced great views of the sunrise as well as different birds flying over the boat, pure magic!
Quickly we arrived at our diving location which was within close proximity to Dyer Island that is renowned for its Cape Fur Seal colony, with approximately 60 000 seals on this Island.

With our wet suits on, it was time to decide who would get into the cage first. As soon as Kelly had suggested we should get in first, my immediate response was “yes, of course!”, but my colleague Sofie said "no ways, we'll rather be part of the second group". She sounded a little frightened… I must add. While waiting for our opportunity to get into the cage, sea sickness got the best of me and thus I was unable to stand upright.

While my other colleague Thami, and Sofie were enjoying watching the other people and their fearful faces, I sat in a corner trying to be strong. After drinking a glass of water, I then told myself, “shake it off Nela and get into that cage!”

We did it!The water was extremely cold, but that was the least of our concerns. We had roughly 10 shark encounters with one female and the others were all juvenile male sharks. What an amazing experience to see those wild ocean creatures up close! Once one of the sharks slammed into the cage with its tail and we all jumped backwards as we were frightened from the sudden knock. It was simultaneously scary and awesome! After 45 minutes in the cold water, we were more than ready to warm up. I remained at the front of Slashfin for our return trip as the sea sickness crept up on me again. According to Thami and Sofie, viewing the sharks from the top deck was awesome! Needless to say, I was a tad bit jealous as I could not make it up there. However, the Marine Dynamics team took really good care of me and I appreciated their efforts.

Before heading back towards the harbour, our skipper Pieter steered the boat towards Dyer Island, for a close up of the Cape Fur Seal colony. Upon our return to the Great White House, warm soup was waiting for us in the restaurant, which was really delicious after being in the cold for four hours. During that period we were able to watch the video of our experience, which was so surreal!

Before departing to Cape Town, the team also introduced us to their Penguin and Bird Sanctuary, which opened February 2015 as a marine bird rehabilitation centre for diseased, injured, oiled, abandoned and displaced marine birds and African penguins.

Another item of the bucket list! 

Three musketeers on safari

A very early morning start to our day indeed…I was more excited than ever as I would see Elephants and Giraffes for the very first time in person!!!

The drive to the game reserve was picturesque and makes you appreciate nature so much more. One would literally snap copious pictures before even reaching the Big five.

Upon arrival at Aquila Private Game Reserve, we received a very warm welcome. It was freezing cold there as the reserve is situated in the Little Karoo, the semi desert part of South Africa. The safari experience started with a scrumptious breakfast buffet and we definitely looked forward to it as the variety was plentiful and… we were starving!!! Before embarking on the game drive we had an opportunity to explore the surrounds of the game reserve and the views of the adjacent mountains are truly breath-taking. My colleague, Thami immediately spotted the elephants from afar and with my other colleague Sofie and I's bad eyesight, Thami had to explain several times before we both got a glimpse of those beauties. This happened throughout the entire duration of our game drive as he spotted most of the animals before anyone else.

Finally the game drive was underway... our ranger Freddy started our game drive with a visit at the animal rehabilitation centre, as the game reserve highly accentuates wildlife conversation in order to re-introduce the wildlife such as Cheetahs, Crocodiles, Leopards and Lions within the Cape Region. It was sad to see this wildlife in confined spatial areas and not in their natural environment, but I do understand the cheetahs are a captive bred and are thus controlled to ensure the worldwide cheetah survival initiative. As for the Lions they have been saved from a heart-rending destiny whereby these animals were placed within small spatial areas and hunters would be granted permission to shoot them.

As the game drive continued to the main reserve Freddy stopped the vehicle, he would then pick up animal manure and ask us all which animal within the reserve did we presume it could belong to and of course there would be one or two individuals who would get it right. I thought it was a great way to obtain knowledge about the wildlife on the game reserve and made us use the knowledge we had about the wildlife. Freddy had a great sense of humour as he would occasionally engage in jokes and it helped us all loosen up and feel more at ease during this experience. We then continued our drive along the waterhole where we came across Hippos, my colleagues and I named them the “lazy ones” as they laid in the same position we had left them. There was a moment that were Freddy stopped our game vehicle in the middle of nowhere as our refreshment stop, we hopped off the game vehicle looking up to the beautiful African blue skies, mountains views,  the wildlife within a distance and of course some sparkling wine!, this was truly an incredible moment “time stood still” for a little while here.

Before the game drive Freddy stated that there was a possibility we might not see the Big five or the other wildlife on the game reserve, however we were fortunate enough to see the big five (Buffalo, Rhinos, Elephants, Leopard & Lions) as well as the other wildlife on the game reserve (Elands, Giraffes, Hippos, Ostriches, Springboks & Mountain Zebras) .

After our game drive we indulged in a delightful lunch and yes…it was just as marvellous as breakfast! With such a fantastic day behind us a little snooze on a way back home “Cape Town” was essential.

In a nutshell, we had a great safari experience and our ranger truly made our game drive extraordinary by ensuring we that saw a variety of wildlife.

Welcome to Africa Baby!!!