Sharks!

We got up super early today for our shark trip. The boat leaves at 6:45 from the pier down te road, so we were up around 5:30, more than an hour before sunrise here.
It was raining lightly here in town, and of course cold at that hour, but at least there was no wind. From shore, the sea looked perfectly smooth. The tide was especially low, so getting into the boat was difficult, and I had a wet bum before we pushed off.

There was another couple there with their daughter. The daughter was wearing a top from Mountain Equipment Co-op, so we asked where they were from. Airdrie, about 20 minutes north of our house in Calgary.

On the way out to Seal Island, where the sharks hunt, we saw about a hundred dolphins, and perhaps 10 seals, swimming around in the open water. The seals were funny as they would stop every now and then and poke their heads up to look around.
Once we got close to the island, they threw a seal decoy into the water and dragged it behind the boat and circled the island for what felt like an hour, with nothing interesting happening. We were told if a shark bit, it would happen instantly, so if we wanted photos, we'd have to just watch with the camera pointed and ready. I put the camera in video mode and just kept it pointed at the decoy. So I have a whole lot of video of nothing.

Then they decided to drop ancor and let people get in the cage suspended off the side of the boat with scuba gear. As soon as the anchor dropped, a shark came up to see what was going on. It happened so quickly, nobody was ready, and all I saw was a flash of grey skin.

UG was the first volunteer to get in the cage, so he got into a wetsuit that was a little too small, and waited about another 20 minutes for more signs of a shark (he thought it was more like an hour). The sea out at the island wasn't nearly as calm as in town, with large swells causing the boat to sway quite a bit, so UG was not enjoying the wait. The rain had stopped, which was good for me, watching from the upper deck of the boat. Once another shark appeared, I got a photo of the fin, and UG got in the cage. Within seconds of getting in, the shark came up and bumped the cage. It swam between the cage and the boat, giving the cage a frightening shove (it scared me, watching from the boat). UG, in the water, turned around to see what had caused the bump, but the shark was already gone. He stayed in for about a half an hour, and the waves caused the cage to bang around a lot, so he assumed that's what had caused the first bump. He saw a lot of jelly fish, but nothing else. 2 other people who got into the cage saw the shark, but 4 of them saw nothing.

After getting out of the cage, UG started feeling seasick. He didn't take a second turn, and spent the rest of the trip just praying for it to end.
Overall it was very disappointing, especially for UG. This was the whole reason for our trip to South Africa in the first place. All he saw was the fin I managed to get a photo of. We were supposed to go out again tomorrow, but the forecast is calling for high winds. We have an opportunity to go out again on Sunday, but we'll have to wait for UG's stomach to settle for him to decide if he wants to try again.
After getting back to the apartment, I turned on the TV to catch the end of William and Kate's wedding, live on BBC. While UG slept, I watched the first half of the wedding from a recording.

Once had a good long nap, we went back to the Brass Bell for dinner. This time, we went upstairs, which was a little less sketchy. It had actual tables and chairs, instead of picnic tables downstairs, actual flooring instead of subfloor planks, and white painted walls and decoration instead of whatever colour the wood was before and beer advertisements. The food wasn't quite as awesome as before, UG had his fish sent back as the first one was a little overcooked. For an appetizer, we ordered a small wood fird pizza, with ham, pineapple and banana. Banana has been on several pizza menus here, and UG had been dying to try it. It works with pineapple, but on it's own, it would be very weird.

And driving home, we saw more penguins again, wandering the streets, hanging out in people's front gardens.