Monday, April 12, 2010

Baz Day 3-5: Hermanus

The Western Cape of South Africa is starting to remind us alot of northern California. Wine country, rugged coastlines, beautiful views and freezing beaches. On our first day in Hermanus, we took a walk along coastal cliffs that could have easily been in Big Sir or Monterey. And, much like Norcal, it was just slightly too cold here to call the weather perfect.

Anyhow, enough about the town. The big draw here of course is the shark diving. Great White Shark diving. People flock from near and far to experience it here, as it's reputed to have the best in the world. We've known for months and months that we were going to partake in it. As long as I have known Reece this has been on his bucket list, and the moment we started planning this trip it was on our itinerary.

For some reason, I really wasn't scared of shark diving. Call me crazy, but I have always been much more concerned about the seasickness I'd endure than the killing machines I'd encounter. Seriously! As it got closer, the realization that I should be terrified began to give me a bit of anxiety. But the motion sickness and the temperature of the water remained on the forefront of my fears.

Well, believe it or not, I was right. Slipping into a wetsuit and jumping into a cage surround by 10-foot great white sharks was not scary. At all. I SWEAR! However, the puking I was doing every 15 minutes really put a damper on the experience. About five minutes in the cage and I had to get out to throw up again (I thought it was probably poor form to do in in the water alongside felow divers). And for the remainder of the afternoon I layed down in the sunshine while Reece got in all the cage time he could.

Am I glad I did it? Mostly. It was a pretty pricey boat ride for me to catch some rays. But I did in fact get in the cage and go underwater and see some sharks up close and personal. So, mission accomplished. And Reece had an absolutely amazing time, so I'm glad I got to be there to see him enjoy it.

We didn't have an underwater camera to capture the action, but here's a nice little video Reece shot from the boat. Rawr!

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