Shark!!!!

I dedicate this entry to my good friend Wendy, whose biggest fear growing up was sharks (even though we grew up in Ontario, far far away from any sharks!)

Before leaving for South Africa I had told many friends and family that I was interested in going shark cage diving during my trip. I was told over and over to be careful and my dear brother Brandon even thought it was a good idea to show me videos of shark cage diving gone wrong. I figured if I could jump out of a plane and survive I could surely jump into a cage in shark invested waters. Since I am here typing this entry, I'm sure you've all figured out that I survived and did not lose any limbs or digits.

The day started off with a 7:30 pick-up at the AVIVA house, along with two other volunteers, Luc and Charlotte. Traffic was really heavy so it took a while to get into Cape Town to pick up four others who would be joining us on the boat. The drive to our diving spot took another two hours after we had finished picking everyone up. When we arrived there was a table with fruit, toast and muffins for breakfast as well as juice, tea and coffee. I had heard from other volunteers who had already gone shark cage diving that almost everyone on the boat had gotten sick because of the ocean swells so I was afraid to eat too much just in case. After a quick briefing about what to expect from our day and how to use our life vests we headed out to the boat. This time of year the sharks stay fairly close to shore so it only took about 10-15 minutes to get to our diving location. Within minutes of the boat stopping the first shark appeared beside the boat. The first group that was going in the cage quickly got into their wetsuits and jumped in for about 20 minutes. I was part of the second group to go in along with Luc and Charlotte. The cages are large enough to hold up to five people at a time. Along with our wetsuits we were also given a mask to wear so we could see underwater and a weight belt to stop us from floating around. The water was absolutely freezing, but the wetsuits were 7mm thick so they really helped to keep us warm. Whenever a shark started approaching the cage we would be told to go down and which direction to look. To go underwater you have to push yourself down, grab onto a bar inside the cage and hook your feet under a bar on the bottom of the cage. The first few times I tried to push myself under I was unsuccessful because I couldn't get my feet under the bar so my legs were dangling about. I kept feeling like my legs were going to float right out of the cage and into the sharks mouth!! After a while I figured out the technique and was able to enjoy the experience a lot more. It was so incredible to see the sharks so close up. There were many times where they would within inches of the cage. To attract the sharks a tuna fish is thrown into the water attached to a large rope. As the shark approaches the tuna, it's yanked away so it can't grab on, but instead is lured close to the cage. There were however a couple times where the shark was able to grab onto the tuna and bite it right off the rope. Each group of divers were given two turns in the cage, for about 20-30 minutes each turn. We were the last group in the water and I think it was the most exciting of them all. While we were still in the cage one of the sharks came right towards us and as it turned away the tail smashed right into the cage. I loved every moment of the experience. We were very lucky to have a fairly calm sea, beautiful weather and lots of shark sightings. Unfortunately great white sharks are in the top 10 list of endangered species due to poaching and they figure they will be extinct within the next 10-15 years. Sharks have always been given a bad reputation, but after seeing them first hand I can say they are a truly remarkable species.

After returning from shark diving this evening, four volunteers and myself joined Ursula (one of the AVIVA tour guides) on a street feeding program that she does on a weekly basis. We bought 50 hotdogs and buns and took them to homeless people living under the bridges in Cape Town. The people we fed were so grateful to receive the food and also to have someone to speak to. Many of the people did not speak English, so Ursula would translate for us. We fed people as young as five and as old as 60. Tonight was fairly warm compared to what the nights have been, but generally they are quite cold so I gave one of the women my sweater. She seemed very grateful and put it on right away. We were only able to stop at a few places before we ran out of food. As soon as we would stop to feed a group, more and more people would show up. Luckily just as we were giving out the last of our hotdogs, a young couple pulled up who were also giving out food so they continued on where we left off. Even though we were only gone for about an hour, it was a night I will never forget.