Aftrica Day 8,9: Townships, Wine Country, Cape Town

We packed up, had breakfast and bid goodbye to Blue on Blue. Our schedule over the next two days would take us to a few of the townships, the shanty towns to which the blacks and coloreds were forced when they were removed from Cape Town proper during Apartheid. We would also explore the rest of Cape Town and visit the wine country.

Our first stop was Langa, the first township to which blacks were relocated. It was a bit sobering to see the houses, some only makeshift shacks, and to hear the stories about how people lived and how the community grew. We heard stories from our guide about residents of the townships that hold excellent jobs yet continue to live there despite the means to leave since that is now their family and community. We also saw the new government housing that is springing up around the area, almost seeming like it's too little, too late.

Despite our concerns about visiting the townships just to gawk at the unfortunate conditions of this community, the visit to the community center was special. They take in local youths and teach them crafts like pottery, jewelry making, and beadwork. This gives them a way to earn a living by making crafts for tourists.

As a stark contrast to the townships, our next stop was the wine country outside of Cape Town. It was a nice relaxing afternoon after several very full days. We visited three vineyards and enjoyed some nice wines. Our guide dropped us off at our hotel in Cape Town in the evening and we explored the area around our hotel. Still under the spell of our safari adventure, we selected Arnold's for dinner which specializes in game meats. We had the sampler which included gemsbok, warthog, ostrich, and crocodile.

We spent the next day touring around Cape Town. We utilized to hop-on, hop-off bus to hit as much as we could. We made stops at the green market, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Hout Bay, and finally the Victoria & Albert Waterfront. It made for a long day and we tried to get to bed as early as we could since we had an early flight in the morning to head off to Zambia.

Africa Day 7: Cape Point

In the afternoon on Day 7, after our shark dive, our guide Chris picked us up at the dock and we set off toward the South to explore the Cape Point Nature Reserve. Our first stop was Boulders Beach, home to thousands of African penguins. To access the beach, we needed to walk through a residential area and then pay an entry fee as the beach is part of Table Mountain National Park.

Once inside, we followed the boardwalk that had been built on the beach. Before long something caught Lisa's eye and we noticed a penguin walking along in a narrow alley between the boardwalk and the beach. We saw the first of hundreds of makeshift "igloos" that rangers at the park had half buried in the sand as shelters for the birds. Apparently a pair of penguins just showed up about 30 years ago, and each year they would return and the population would grow.

We hung around only for a short while, but were treated to many penguins a body surfing penguin, a couple of playful sea otters, and a penguin that appeared to be playing "keep away" from two younger penguins with something in its mouth. We walked back to the car and were amazed by the sheer number of penguins, hiding out in the thick bushes that ran along the boardwalk back to the car.

Our next stop was Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. After a relatively short, but beautiful drive along the coastline of False Bay, we arrived at the largely untouched most southwesterly point in Africa. It was news to both of us that the Cape of Good Hope was not the most southerly point in Africa, that distinction belongs to Cape Agulhas. So much for our geography classes.

We spent a bit of time up high above the water and sheer cliffs of Cape Point and took in the views of the Cape of Good Hope. We were treated to a bonus of a southern right whale that had moved into the inlet between Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope and stayed there for a while, just enjoying the blue water and beautiful day and showing off for us.

We then took off for the Cape of Good Hope. It was not too far of a hike, but the park was to close at 6pm and we were beyond the point where we could make it so we drove. We did take a short hike to the rocks above and were treated to some amazing views to the west as the sun began to set. On the way out of the park we were again treated to some great wildlife viewing, seeing two ostriches along the coastline, an eland (a new antelope that we hadn't yet seen, and a whole family of baboons with a mother carrying a very young one. We made our way back to the B&B and enjoyed a good dinner at Cape to Cuba, a Cuban/Hemingway-themed restaurant in St. James. Off to Cape Town tomorrow.

Africa Day 7: Simons Town

We had a long day on Day 6, but it was all travel. Three hour drive to Durban, two hour flight to Cape Town, and a half hour drive to St. James where we checked in to Blue on Blue, a nice B&B tucked up on the hillside above False Bay. We had beautiful views from our room and were within walking distance of the beach and the restaurants that lined it. Even though it was winter, there was quite a bit of car and foot traffic along the main drag that paralleled the coastline.


Day 7 was to be a long day and, to continue the theme, an exciting one geared toward viewing large animals. This time though, they were aquatic animals and apex predators...yes, we were going to try to see great white sharks. Unfortunately this meant we'd have to wake up before dawn yet again. We were met by our driver a the B&B at 6am. With a sunrise at 7am, our boat launched--shark cage lashed down on the back of the boat--at 6:40 so we could hit the waters around Seal Island right at sunrise, the prime feeding time for great whites. There were 16 of us on the boat including the captain and three crew members.

The day began with all of us on board on the lookout for what the crew termed "natural predation". This was the part where we observed great whites feeding on their prey, the thousands of seals that inhabit Seal Island. The seals would head out to open sea to find food and then have to return across the dangerous waters that made them prey for the sharks. Sunrise was the prime feeding time because it was still too dark for there to be much visibility in the water so the seals could not see sharks below, but the light sky allowed the sharks to see the seals quite well.

It didn't take long for the captain to yell out "predation" and we all rushed to one side of the boat as the captain tried to get us in closer for a view. We were told to watch the gulls above since they followed the action, hoping for scraps. Typically there was a first hit and then either the seal was able to escape, or there was more thrashing, and occasionally a blood slick in the water. For the first few incidents, we saw nothing more than a dorsal fin here or a tail fin there, but before long we had seen some breaches, sharks emerging from the water as they first hit the seal. The folks on our boat broke into two teams: Team Shark, rooting for the predators, and Team Seal, screaming with fervor for each seal to escape the clutches of a shark.

It was a very active day for feeding, according to our captain. Hopefully this would translate to significant activity for our late morning activity which was jumping into the shark cage to see the sharks face to face. We witnessed, in all roughly 20 predations, some more visible and frantic than others. It was difficult to capture good images or video since, as previously mentioned, the first hit on the seal was typically the most aggressive and occasionally resulted in the shark breaching the surface. But we saw some amazing athletic feats by the sharks and got at least one rather impressive series of images and good video during one particularly lengthy bout between shark and seal.

After the natural predations, the captain had the crew lower a decoy "seal" into the water and he towed the decoy around the island for about 15-20 minutes. We then returned to make another pass, but before they could let the decoy more than 30 feet from the boat, a great white leap out of the water and came splashing back down. Dave was one of the few on the boat lucky enough to witness this, but no one had their cameras or video ready since we hadn't really starting towing the decoy yet.

Shortly thereafter, the crew lashed the shark cage to the side of the boat and they began chumming in the water and dropped two "bait" lines into the water, one at the surface and one about 10 feet down. The first pair of divers readied themselves, climbing into their wetsuits. It took a little while, but we eventually saw a shadow passing the stern of the boat. The crew hustled the divers into the cage. This process continued and every once in a while, one of the sharks would attack the surface bait and we'd get a show.

Then it was our turn to get in the cage. We suited up, lowered ourselves into the cages, and grabbed the regulators from the crew. It didn't take long until the first shark passed in front of the cage. Not too close, but certainly close enough to give us a great view. Then a few minutes later, another pass from the other direction. And finally, our closest encounter came when a much larger shark took the bait that hung below the surface and passed under the cage within a few feet of our feet. Awesome.

Despite our viewings, we were told that it was a slow day in the cage and the sharks were a bit shy; there were no face-to-face encounters in the cage. But that didn't detract from our experience.

Africa Day 5: Zulu Nyala, Walking Safari Part 2

After a very eventful morning, we had a sole purpose for our afternoon walking safari: find elephants. William had a general idea where the three that we had seen previously had been in the morning, but elephants can cover over 20 miles per day, so there was no telling where they were now. But William was undeterred and crazy vigilant in working to pick up the trail of the elephants. We learned quite a bit about tracking elephants on the day.

It didn't take long before William had picked up the trail. He showed us elephant tracks and showed us by the positioning of the footprint in which direction the elephants had headed. He then picked up some nearby branches that, judging by the moisture in them, they had pulled off the trees in the morning. He also picked up large cube of elephant dung and pulled it apart to show us the center, which also let us know that they had been there in the morning. But since morning, William explained, they could have made it over the ridge in the distance, in which case we were not going to find them today. He then took off into the brush to try to find more clues as to specifically which direction they had been heading.

We then hiked for a while, maybe a mile or so in the direction we determined the animals had moved. We moved over hilly grasslands and every once in a while stopped to look and listen off in the distance with the hopes of hearing a trumpet or seeing movement in the trees or catching another animal that had heightened its guard. We then hit the lower land, moving through a dried out river bed and it was then that William stopped and shushed us. I'm not sure if William has super hearing or if he is just so used to hearing the sounds, but he picked up on the distinctive sound of branches breaking, and sure enough, in the distance, we saw a trunk rise above the tree line.

William again asked us to be quiet, although it was a bit unnecessary at this point as our excitement hushed us as we prepared to close in on the animals. William also said to try to avoid stepping on any branches...and then promptly broke a twig with his next step. High comedy and we all, including William, fought to muffle our laughs. Before too long we had make our way to a clearing and we could see the head of one of the elephants as it reached its trunk up to feed on branches high up a tree. Then the elephants stopping eating and moving. We were made!

At each one of our animal encounters, William made sure that we had an exit route as well as ensuring there was one for the animals to avoid cornering one. He pointed it out to us and then began to explain what the elephants would now do. They would start to slowly move a little closer to see what had caused the sound. Once they saw us, we could probably expect a mock charge during which the elephant will expand its ears, make a bunch of noise, and generally try to scare us. We were hoping we didn't see a real charge which would mean their ears would be pulled back. Sure enough, after not too long, an elephant came into view, much closer than the distance at which we had seen them feeding. This was only about 30 or so yards. As if on queue, we were treated to a mock charge as the elephant, still partially obscured by a tree made herself seem even bigger by spreading her ears wide.

This was more than enough for William as he chambered a round on the rifle, told us to stay put, and then approached the animal yelling in a mix of English and Zulu until the elephant finally yielded and retreated. William then told us to get a move on and retreat along our escape route as the elephants would continue to follow us. We quickly headed back through the trees and came to a watering hole with an embankment on the far side. We quickly headed for the far side. After a few minutes, the determined elephants emerged from the same trees that we had come through. At William's urging, we quickly scampered behind the embankment and from our bellies watched as the animals scanned the scene to the best of their poor eyesight's ability, and then headed along the far side of the watering hole, lessening any immediate danger to us and we were able to stand on the embankment again and take some photos of the three across the pond.

We made our way back to our truck, which conveniently enough, after all of our circling was not far off. As we jumped in and began to recap our afternoon before heading back, another safari vehicle pulled up with a small group that had been out driving. We exchanged a few words with them and then, to our surprise, the three elephants paraded out from behind a thicket of trees, glanced at our truck, reached out their trunks to sniff the other truck, and then found a nearby bush to continue their feeding. We headed back to the lodge and said our goodbyes to William since we were headed off to continue our adventures in Cape Town the next day. We then enjoyed another great sunset and had a group dinner with our new friends from Atlanta.