Checked Out the Great White Sharks From a Diving Cage Today……

…..and they are pretty awesome—the longest we saw today was about 4 meters, or 12 feet, and they get much larger than that. I was in a group of about 25 people and three of us caught the shuttle at our hotel early this morning. We took a two hour drive north of Cape Town—an area that was new to me—along the Atlantic mountain range. The drive itself was interesting and we worked our way through the mountains to the village of Gansbaai.

There we had breakfast and an orientation before boarding the boat named White Pointer which was big enough to hold about thirty of us including five crew members. From there we went about 1 ½ hours to a restricted area near Seal Island. The ride never really took us too far from the coast and we saw penguins and seals in the water maybe a half-mile from the coast.

There were five diving boats anchored—the area is restricted to licensed dive boats—so we weren’t at all crowded. After we arrived they threw chum overboard to attract the sharks and then lowered the cage into the water. Six divers entered at a time and we had to wear wetsuits because the water is cold—really cold. The cage floats next to the boat and they throw a buoy loaded with bait—they used tuna heads and tails—and the buoy floats right in front of the cage.

You climb into the cage six at a time and the top of the cage is never below water—about six feet of cage is below water and maybe two feet above so you can float and breathe. When a shark is sighted the divers can go under water and watch the shark attack the buoy and bait.

We had most of the action early after anchoring—two of the sharks were probably twelve feet long and several other were 6 to 10 feet. They are pretty intimidating creatures. I don’t have an underwater camera so I was taking my pictures from aboard the boat. Unfortunately the sharks are unbelievably fast—they are surface feeders but swim low and attack from below at unbelievable speeds. I am attaching some of the shots I did get including one where you can see the shark underwater in the lower right corner of the photo--it is the second picture down from the beginning of this post.

We were out there about five hours then returned to the harbor and on the way back got to see two Southern Right Whales jumping out of the water in the distance. Again, unfortunately, my camera couldn’t get them but we were able to watch them for several minutes. I really do need to get a zoom lens.

Made it back to the hotel—it was a long day but worth it. I have one day of work here tomorrow then fly to Durban for one day’s work then start the long flight back through London to Houston. I should arrive Wednesday evening.

Greetings from the Cape of Good Hope—The Most Southwestern Point on the African Continent…..

…..and a beautiful cape it is too.

Today is Saturday and I slept in a little later than usual and caught a tour south of Cape Town to the famous Cape of Good Hope—the feared part of any good sailors worst nightmares in the old sailing ships. When the weather is good—like it was today—it is considered the “fairest” of all capes. But when the weather is bad—well, the shipwrecks too numerous to inventory tell that story.

We had a small group: me and a woman from St.Louis, some Greek people, two Germans, and a couple of Brazilians. It was foggy when we left but I had worked on that part of the coast earlier in the week so I didn’t miss anything but the further south we went, the better the weather became and by the time we reached the Cape it was beautiful and today was the hottest day I’ve experienced on this trip. We drove through little villages with names like Llandudno, Hout Bay, Noordhoek, Simons Town and Fish Hoek. We also drove through the famous South African vineyard country and near the cape the landscape was barren but very green and beautiful. The water changes colors from beautiful blue to emerald green and the waves were active today but the wind wasn’t that bad.

At the Cape, we took a cable car up to the old Good Hope lighthouse and took more photos then made a fairly strenuous hike out to the far peak. Over the centuries, the sailors used the Cape of Good Hope as the measure for where the Atlantic Ocean became the Pacific. Scientifically it’s not true but everything here is named “Two Oceans.” After riding the cable car down we drove over to the Southwestern point of the continent and took some more photos. We then drove back north on the “Pacific” side which is really called False Bay and still part of the Atlantic.

Along the way we stopped for a baboon colony—I didn’t realize they were indigenous here but they are strictly protected. In many ways they are nuisances but the tourists love them. They stop traffic, put on a show, then wander off and break into some homeowner’s home and trash it out looking for food.

As we continued north we stopped and visited another animal sanctuary that surprised me. I knew that the Equator runs through Kenya which is pretty far north of here but I didn’t realizehow close the tip of South Africa is to Antarctica longitudinal-wise. They have African pinguins here and I was surprised to learn that. We stopped at a penguin beach and went out on a boardwalk literally through the middle of a colony of them. The sun was not today and they were sunning themselves. One part of the beach had the females nesting eggs while the rest of the beach was a comedy of motion. Penguins are really funny the way they walk but once they are in the water they are graceful and beautiful. I’m attaching a short video here—click on the triangle in the left corner to start.

We got back late in the afternoon so I showered and pretty much hung around the room until supper.

Tomorrow, I have another neat tour planned…..

Ate Lunch Today Overlooking An Eighteenth Century Shipwreck…….

…..it’s out there somewhere under the blue water. It’s an Eighteenth Century Man o’ War and much of it is still intact under the water. Divers regularly go out and dive down to see the cannons and remains of the ship itself. Evidently there are so many shipwrecks—especially as you move south toward the Cape of Good Hope—that there is no effort to recover it.

I had a refresher course with only two people today and we drove out around the beach area and had lunch overlooking the white-sand beach. If you’re wondering, yes, that is a topless beach—I just need to get stronger zoom lens for my camera. A little further down the beach there was a movie being filmed—don’t know who is in it or what the name is. The weather continues to be beautiful here. There is no noticeable humidity and no mosquitoes. This area has no hurricanes or tornadoes, no volcanoes, and no earthquakes. The only downside is the crime rate on the streets and it is better here than in Johannesburg but still a constant concern here.

Speaking of cannons, I finished work a little early today and visited the local artillery museum. South Africa has a really colorful military history what with all the colonial powers fighting over it for three centuries. There are literally old cannons everywhere here in Cape Town and they came from all over the world. It really adds to the seafaring ambiance around the waterfront. While I was in that area I also took a photograph of the new World Cup soccer stadium the city is building for the tournament next year.

I’ve signed up for tours on Saturday (tomorrow) and Sunday. Tomorrow morning I’m going south all the way to the southernmost point of Africa—the Cape of Good Hope, or Cape Point. The trip follows the coast all the way down and I should have some spectacular photographs. Sunday I’m doing something entirely different.

This evening I caught the hotel shuttle to the waterfront and ate supper in a restaurant facing the harbor. As it got dark, I shot this night photo—it’s impossible to take a bad picture around here. It dawned on me earlier today that I haven't turned my television on in the hotel room since I've been here.

I should have a lot more to post tomorrow evening……

Cape Town Claims to be One of the Most Beautiful Cities in the World…..

…..and I tend to agree—that coming from someone who really dislikes cities. One of the big surprises was the size—it is really by American standards not a particularly large city. It is built around the ocean and the land rises pretty dramatically from the coastline. The result is a medium-sized city that literally rises from the coast. You can go to just about any restaurant here and look out over the blue ocean because you’re literally looking out over the roofs of the buildings on the street below you. Most office buildings and apartment towers are constructed in circular shapes with the elevators and maintenance areas to the back so every office and apartment has an unobstructed view of the ocean.

The big news—and I mean the news everywhere around here—is the new American president. It’s on TV; splashed across the newspaper headlines; and the topic of conversation everywhere. I had supper on the waterfront tonight and the waiter mentioned it to me. I think Obama has the most pro-American sentiment I can remember in years—I hope he takes the ball and runs with it. Believe me, I’ve seen how hated we are in parts of the world. I’m including a couple of photographs of the local newspapers this morning—on one, the subheading is “Bush Flies Off Into the Sunset.” I don’t think anybody is sad to see him go.

I’ve had another good group this week. Monday we drove out around the coast and it is some of the most beautiful blue water I’ve ever seen. Many Europeans and South Africans tend to vacation after the first of the year and South Africa is not heading into summer so there was a lot of traffic so we couldn’t stop and take pictures but I’m signed up for a tour this weekend that will give me plenty of chances to get some good photos.

Tuesday we drove into the interior behind Table Mountain and the flora and vegetation are just amazing. South Africa is such a beautiful country—if they could just get their politics and other problems solved. We drove through small villages with names like Fish Hoek and Cirstenbosch. As I mentioned it is late spring going into summer here and they had lots of rain lately so everything is green and flowers are everywhere. The temperature is in the mid-70s but there is almost no humidity—odd for being located right on the coast.

Today we drove north on the highway that goes up to Namibia and while it wasn’t as breathtaking as the other days, it was still a drive filled with scenic views of the ocean. We ate lunch as a group on the waterfront (an area I’m becoming very familiar with).

Saturday I’m signed up for a day-tour south to the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. It will include stops in about ten villages and will have a boat trip to an island nesting area for African seals. Whales and Great White Sharks are common in the waters south of here and I was surprised to learn there are African penguins—they look just like Antarctic penguins without the snow under their feet.

I will finish training with this group tomorrow and have a one-day refresher group on Friday. Saturday I’m going to Cape Point and I haven’t decided for sure what I’ll do Sunday but it’ll probably be a guided tour of some type. I have another one-day refresher training session here Monday then fly to Durban that night and conduct a one-day session there before flying out through Johannesburg to London to Houston arriving home next Wednesday.
So far this has been my best job in Africa…..

Hectic, But Great (3:52:45) Day Today……

…..as I suspected yesterday, the travel agency got my reservation messed up and I was in the wrong hotel—wrong by about one hour’s drive. The casino was called “Grand Hotel Western” and I spent the night at the casino and got up this morning and started checking over my paperwork and something just didn’t seem right. Late morning I took a taxi into Cape Town and noticed on the motorway that the Chevron building was right beside the “Grand Westin” hotel. Give me credit—I put one and one together and came up with two. I immediately turned the taxi around and returned to the casino (remember this is $50 each way) and repacked my bags, checked out, caught the same taxi back into Cape Town, made reservations at the right hotel and now everything’s right. Just last week I told Devin the trip was going so smoothly it was scary. If you haven’t worked overseas, you may not appreciate the whole situation.

Speaking of Devin, he ran the Houston Marathon today and has been training with the hopes of doing it under four hours this year. I just got an email from him: 26.2 miles in 3 Hours; 52 Minutes; 45 Seconds---He made it!!!!! That's him on the left.

After the hotel fiasco, I had most of the afternoon in Cape Town and wow, is it a nice place. From my hotel window I can see out over the coast into the ocean and the famed waterfront is right below me. I spent about four hours wandering around it today and it is every bit as beautiful and nice as I’d heard.

Cape Town is still a “working harbor” but the old colonial sailing and steam facilities are still here and have been converted into trendy shops and restaurants. It's neat because you can walk into the stores and look at the old wooden pulleys and wenches overhead. Here is a picture of an old maintenance dock. It's not used today but was used as early as the wooden sailing ships. During the steam era they made it into a lock and the water can be raised or lowered to allow the workers access to the sides and bottom for repairs. Remember, you can click on these photos to enlarge them.

The red building to the right is the "Clock House." Today it's an information kiosk but in the early days it was the center point of the harbor and the source for firing the "noon gun" cannon above the city on Signal Hill. I've seen several Noon Guns--the one in Hong Kong is still active--but the one here is the oldest continuously fired gun in the world. They still fire it every day at precisely noon, except on religious holidays.

Above the city towers “Tabletop Mountain” and while it’s not all that tall, it is imposing and literally shadows the harbor. For some strange reason the ocean winds and temperatures cause a low-lying cloud to almost always blow across it and when it does, the cloud literally “pours” over the top of the mountain down the side facing the city. The effect is known as the “Dutch tablecloth” since the Dutch founded the city and first observed the mountain. It’s pretty neat.
Johannesburg is considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world and while Cape Town also has a high crime rate, it is noticeably more “relaxed” here. The hotel runs a half-hourly shuttle to the waterfront and back and runs until midnight which means the shops and restaurants must stay open late—something that never happens in Johannesburg.

The place is so “relaxed” in fact, that the “alternative lifestyle” is very apparent here. Cape Town evidently has a reputation as being Africa’s version of San Francisco. It is very obvious here—stores actually advertise being “friendly” and the souvenir shops have all the related tee-shirts and all. The reason I mention it is that it is such a radical departure from most of Africa. The gay lifestyle is very much taboo across most of the continent—in fact I’ve worked a couple of central African countries where they still stone them if they get caught in public.

Something I found a little strange but interesting was the music on the waterfront. There were bands everywhere and I often had a "New Orleans"feeling. Much of the street music here is unquestionably jazz--I videotaped one group and they are not "jazz" but more "African." I didn't see any today but they often have traveling "minstrels" who dress up in silk coats and top hats, dance and sing down the street, and twirl silk umbrellas. It's exactly like the New Orleans "jazz funerals" and they claim credit here for the New Orleans jazz street tradition. One difference here is that they painted their faces white whereas we tended to do the "blackface' minstrel routines. Here is a statute to the "traveling minstrels."

I splurged a little tonight for supper. Actually I went all day without eating because of the hotel mixup earlier so I had a really nice supper in a restaurant overlooking the harbor. It was very windy today but the temperature was around the mid-70s. As it got dark, however, the wind caused the temperatures to drop rapidly. I’ve been told you can experience all four seasons in one day here. Kinda like Texas—if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute…..
I’m glad to be actually in the city and I start work again tomorrow morning. All seems to be well now and things are as they should. Life is good…..here are some pictures to prove it…..

Made it to Cape Town…..

….. but had trouble finding my hotel. Instead of the Grand Westin, it was the Grand Hotel West and is located about twenty minutes inland. It’s actually a casino that’s built around an old colonial hotel. The hotel itself is really nice but is really isolated—it’s about a $40 round-trip taxi trip into Cape Town but I think I’ll go ahead and do it tomorrow. There’s literally everything here under one glass roof—three huge casinos, about twenty restaurants, movie theater, bowling alley. Trouble is I don’t gamble and am not into all that but like I said the room is really nice. I have a beautiful view of the mountains from my room and the view flying in was spectacular. I suspect after I’ve done my first training session Monday some of the Chevron people can suggest things to do and see and how to get around a little better. But anyway, I’m home for the next nine days…..

Made it Johannesburg in good shape…..

…although it took me 27 hours including an eight-hour layover in London. The weather was freezing and miserable in London but is absolutely gorgeous here in South Africa. They are in their “spring” season here below the Equator and it is raining quite a bit every day but the weather is warm and the temperature is short-sleeve comfortable.
I’ve almost finished my first training session and it has gone remarkably smooth. Almost scary, how few problems have developed. I have four people in the training session—all from South Africa—and it has been a fun group to work with. I haven’t had much opportunity to take photographs this week but fly into Cape Town Saturday morning and will have the better part of two weekends free there and plan to shoot a lot of pictures along the ocean.
So far, so good………