Cape Town - Shark Diving, Table Mountain, Franschhoek Wineries

I envy all those who get to live in Cape Town - such a picturesque, unique town! My time there with AB flew by in such a blur, I never got to record it, so I'll have to do a mesh up with my 2nd trip.

1) Shark Diving:
Not really what I expected, but still a lot of fun and excitement. I suppose knowing that I'm in a cage and there's pretty much no way for the shark to eat me is reassuring, but then you see the 3.5 ton Great White Shark circling the boat, and it all gets real, fast.


Shark Zone took us out via a boat 15 min to this beautiful area off the coast of Gansbaai (1.5hr from Cape Town). They used huge tuna heads as bait to draw the sharks in. We didn't even stop for 5 minutes before we spotted a shark circling our boat. The captain was trying to give us diving instructions but everyone was busy snapping pics of the shark.

Getting into the cage with the enormous wet suit (thank goodness for the wet suit or else I would've been frozen).

It was amazing watching the Great White Sharks go for the tuna heads at top speeds. The water would seem so serene, and then at a moment's notice, the shark would bare is enormous jaws and come flying out of the water. It was amazing just watching it from above, and then being in the cage, having the shark literally knock into the cage was a definite adrenaline surge!

We had 5 female sharks and 1 male shark circling us at the end. The males have claspers on the underside of the belly that differentiate themselves from the females. Apparently no one has ever seen Great White Sharks copulate - our guide encouraged us to take a video if we ever do see that because that's worth a million dollars.  The largest Great White today was 3.5 tons, but apparently they can get up to twice the size! The size of this bus:

I got a little sea sick towards the end when the boat was saying in the ocean, but it was totally worth it! Plus on the way back we got to go whale watching at Hermanas - although we didn't spot any whales b/c it wasn't the right season.

2) Table Mountain
First time up table mountain we went via cable car, but the 2nd time I got to hike up (usually 2hr up, but took me 1.25 hrs).  It wasn't too strenuous, and the view was beautiful! It required a couple of rest stops, and was mostly in the sun, so it could be a bit draining.

Quarter of the way up

 

Along the way we some protea flowers. They only exist in the cape region of South Africa, and belong to one of the most varied kingdom of plants:

 

 


We also hiked to the highest point on Table Mountain: Maclear's Beacon. The view was amazing! You can even see Cape of Good Hope.

Maclear Beacon

Cape of Good Hope in the far distance

The hike back from Maclear's Beacon was beautiful - right along the edge of Table Mountain.

Lion head on the left, Cape Town proper in the middle, Robbin Island in the distance (Nelson Mandela imprisoned there)

On the edge!

Closer to the visitor center, toward the south is a nice view of the Atlantic.

Looking towards the 12 Apostles and Cape Point.

Camps Bay

Toward the North is the view of Lion head (left), Cape town proper, Stadium (white oval), Robin Island (Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there)

 

Alan with a dassie

Going down the cable car

Tableview (North coast) where you can get a good view of Table Mountain.

View of Table Mountain from the plane

3) Franschhoek Wineries.
Cape Town is known for its enormous collection of wineries. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a wine drinker, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the beautiful scenery and eat delectable food!

The favorite food we had in Cape Town was at La Haute Cabriere in Franschhoek. It felt like we were eating in a cellar, and they were probably the best lamb chops I've ever had. Tender with a cripsy coat.

Grande Provence Winery

Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek is dedicated to the French cultural influences that Huguenots have brought after their immigration during the 17th and 18th centuries: