stubsadventures

The last couple of days have been filled with all sorts of different types of adventures.

Two days ago, it was time to try the cage diving a second time. Being a lover of the ocean and all things in it, I wasn’t really sure what I thought about cage diving at first. I have to admit, I wondered if my desire to come up close and personal with one of the greatest predators of the ocean was a selfish one that could have negative effects on the species. There are many views on cage diving and as always, I decided to make my own decision. In the last few years, I have been unbelievably frustrated hearing what is said about the Canadian oil and gas industries when I know the truth, and interestingly enough, I found this industry to be misunderstood in similar ways. The cage diving industry in Africa is heavily regulated, I was surprised to find out. Very few licenses are granted to be able to do it and the ones are, are tightly regulated and monitored. These regulations are developed with and by people who have the sharks best intentions in mind. It was a great experience to spend time with the crew and really learn what the industry is all about. The crew on the boat are extremely passionate about shark conservation and the sharks themselves. They had many good points about how cage divers didn’t effect at all the lives or behavioral patterns of the sharks, and this has been proven time and time again by independent studies. In fact, most of the sharks that we saw did “swim bys” and weren’t at all interested in what was going on in the boat.

The second experience was much more what I knew happened at Seal Island but never thought I would actually witness. On this trip, we saw the attack of four different seals around the boat. Although these weren’t breach attacks, you got a feel for the power of these creatures, and it was humbling to say the least. Being soft hearted, you couldn’t help but feel for the seal while at the same time knowing you were witnessing the circle of life. When a baby seal would drift from the island, I found myself rooting for him to get back to shore so he could be safe. Even among the 10’s of thousands of seals, even one baby getting eaten was still a little sad.

After the boat trip, came back to shore and had some lunch, and then hired a driver to go to some new places along the coast. The drive was one of the best in the world, hands down. The driver was full of knowledge and history and was really able to answer a lot of my questions. He did however highlight a good portion of the real culture here, which was really fascinating. There, behind the stunning beauty of South Africa is a lot of pain and tension. South Africa has an unemployment rate of 25% and even that is thought to be a low estimate. Immigration is a major problem here and leading to a variety of racial and cultural tensions. As I have always said, to travel to a country is to get the full story, the real story, which isn’t always as pretty as the landscapes.

During the drive, I started to feel quite ill. There came a point where I just wanted to be back at the hotel or I knew I was going to throw up all over this poor guys very clean van. I did make it back to the hotel in time but spent the next 36 hours in the room. I’m sure now that it was related to some food I had for lunch but nonetheless, it was awful and I’m glad to be on the mend!

Stubs.