Suddenly, our boat sped toward another
boat that had a shark at hand. We pulled
up close to see a 9-foot shark cruising
the waters around the boats. Divers were
instructed to make a hasty entrance to the
cage before it was closed and lowered into
the water. I decided to take a turn in the
shark cage, but no sharks approached. Back
on deck, I saw a Great White about 200
yards away as it leaped into the air, twisted,
and hit the water with a huge splash. The
shark quickly re-emerged with a seal in its
mouth, shaking it and returning once again
to the water. The good news was that there
were many seals, playfully “porpoising” in
the waves and looking at us during the calm
94
between shark sightings.
The last group of divers got quite a show,
as the shark ripped the fish bait and rope
from the boat. The shark thrashed against
the cage, giving it quite a jolt. The South
Africans shouted as they lured the sharks
with bait, patrons called out their sightings,
and our staff helped divers move quickly
in and out of their wetsuits and the shark
cage. It was quite a lot of commotion
and excitement!
We visited the famous African Penguin
Colony in Table Mountain National Park
and saw hundreds of adorable penguins
gracing the beach. After that, we went whale
watching along the coast at Hermanus.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
There we saw Southern Right Whales
breaching, rolling and fin slapping. On
a smaller scale, we also saw Rock Hyrax
rodents scurrying across the coastal cliffs,
leaping into nearby bushes for red berries,
seeming to pose for our photographs.
Later that day we saw baboons along the
road, scampering up and down a cliff. The
South Africans consider them pests and use
tracking collars to track the dominate male
of each group. Road signs warn: ‘Use this
road at your own risk - baboons!’
In the semi-desert habitat of West Coast
National Park, wildflowers blanketed the plain
in a palette of colors that took my breath
away. The park is home to 5,000 plant species
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