Chum and Chunder

Earlier this week we decided to schedule something fun for Thursday to celebrate finishing our first round of finals. We decided it was time for shark cage diving because it has been on our to-do list since January. We have been waiting because June and July are supposed to be the best months to see sharks.  As some of you may know, South African waters are the most densely populated area in the world for great white sharks. On top of that, the most densely know region is Dyer Island, and that just happens to be about two hours away from Cape Town and where we spent our day. If any of you have ever seen a shark documentary there is an 80-90% chance that it took place near or around Dyer Island.

Some great white shark facts:
With one bite, they can gobble 14 kg of flesh
They can grow up to 7 meters.
They are the best-equipped predators on the world (or so we are told)
They hunt prey by picking up on electrical fields
They have two eyelids, some have three
They are extremely migratory and lead “lonely lives”
They are ovoviviparous = eggs grow inside the female, hatch there and continue growing until they are born

Before taking the plunge, we had been warned by some of our friends of seasickness.  So we knew to take some Dramamine before leaving to prevent all and any kind of illness and thank goodness we did.  When we loaded into the van at 0830,  we had no idea we would be in there for the next 3 hours before arriving in Gansbaai.  Along the way we picked up our fellow divers: 5 from the UK, 1 American, 2 Spaniards and 2 non-English speaking Europeans.

Our transport for the day

We were greeted by a little breakfast and a quick debriefing by the boat captain of how the day would go. The most important information, as we would later find out, was that if you felt queasy, don’t get sick in the cabin, please go to the side of the boat. This nugget of information was helpful for more than a couple people.

To attract the sharks, they use chum and it almost guarantees a shark spotting,  and in our case it led to constant attention from the massive beasts. Chum is tuna guts, fish oil and sea water and it looks and smells as gross as that description would imply.  But it does the job.

 Chum supplies and the chum bucket.

Once we anchored out in the water, we spent time on the top deck, watching the sharks come up to the bait line (basically a tuna head, tied onto the buoy) and swim around the boat while the first five people were in the cage.  Before we knew it, we were putting on 7 mm thick wetsuits (which is difficult to say the least), booties, weights and goggles and preparing ourselves to hop in. At this point we don't really think we really knew what we were getting into but we were excited.

Who knew we could look so good in wetsuits and huge goggles?

With the sharks swarming the boat, we were instructed on the proper technique to make sure we left the cage with all our fingers. Callie was first in, followed by Alex, then Kristine and lastly two of our European friends.  The cage itself is attached to the boat and about two feet of it is above the water. We waited above water as we waited for commands from the shark spotters until we heard "down!" Then it was time to take a depth breath and submerge ourselves; this is where the weights come in handy.  The bait line slowly lured the sharks in close to the cage so we could get a good view.  Had we felt like risking our appendages, we definitely could have touched multiple sharks, they were THAT close.

This routine went on for a while and we must have made good impressions on the crew because they let us spend the most time in the cage. We don’t really know how long we were in the water but we were definitely in the cage longer than we were in the boat.

Attractive little fishies

Unfortunately, no one was safe from the chunder (this is what South Africans and English people call vomit). Four divers got ill on the boat and we unfortunately experienced the effects of this first hand while inside the cage (as you recall, we were instructed to throw up off the side of the boat). People both in the boat and in the cage were feeling the motion of the ocean. At the time, we were less grossed out than we are now looking back on it. We were annoyed by the murkiness it caused but were already accustomed to the chum water and the debris of the bait line. As a result, when a fellow divers breakfast appeared in the water with us in the cage, it didn’t completly faze us. With a few splashes to “clear” it out, we happily continued to go under to view the sharks. We were having too much of a good time to let a little vomit ruin it. Gross, we know.

Inside the cage

On the ride back, Kristine almost made the chunder count five but she held it together and once we were back on solid ground she felt fine.  Back at the shop, we were greeted with hot soup, cookies, coffee and tea.  We watched the video of our voyage at sea, bought a couple t-shirts and reflected back on our experience with fellow divers.

Too cool for school

Shark cage diving is the COOLEST thing ever! We all would definitely do it again and again and highly recommend it.  Here’s a quick video Callie took from below the surface. Tell us that's not cool.

By the time we arrived back at home, we were exhausted.  We ordered in sushi, which we thought was a little ironic, and we plopped down and watched some OC (Alex and Kristine have been on an OC kick lately).

With school over and only two finals left between us and freedom there will definitely be more adventures to report on in the near future.

As always,

Met liefde van Afrika

Callie, Alex and Kristine.

For more pictures, you know where to go (www.apieceofcape.shutterfly.com)

Note the full-bodied aroma, taste of freshly cut grass and pencil shavings...?

Fact: we love wine and we spent last weekend expressing this love. Stellenbosch is a region of the Western Cape of South Africa that is synonymous with wine. On Friday afternoon, after a small dispute with the rental company, we hopped into our white automatic Nissan Tidda and took the 30-minute drive out into the country. It was nice having the ability and independence to have this little escapade and it was a great way to celebrate the end of classes.

We only had a little over an hour before wine tasting closes for most of the vineyards so we quickly went to one of the first places we saw. Neethlingshof was stop number one and we easily walked away with 6 bottles of wine. As we were leaving a man who was enjoying a cup of coffee jokingly asked if we had purchased each wine we had tried, little did he know that the damage had just begun.



After Neethlingshof, we went to the nearby Asara estate. Although wine tasting was closed for the evening, we were able to satisfy our sweet tooths with a chocolate tasting.





We decided to have dinner at the estate and while we waited for the kitchen to open, we all enjoyed a drink in the cigar and cocktail lounge as the sun set over the mountain. Dinner was absolutely amazing. The weekend was all about indulgence and we fully embraced that with three courses of delectable delights. Alex is still raving about her pumpkin and ricotta tortellini. Kristine’s kingklip put her in the clean plate club and Callie left room for a dessert that was described as an omelet of soufflés. Although we’re still unsure as to exactly what that description means, it certainly did not disappoint. After dinner, we waddled to the car and drove home, excited to be returning the following day.

With the fond memories of the day before, we were up and ready to go on Saturday morning. Our goal for the day was to visit five vineyards, have lunch in Stellenbosch and drive to Franschhoek, a neighboring town, for dinner. We missed the mark by one vineyard but we have no doubt that the day was still a success. Bergskleder was the our first stop where we toured the cellar and the distillery, as well as watched a 15 minute informative video that only Kristine enjoyed (she says she takes after her mother).





The wine tasting included 6 different wines. Both Kristine and Alex enjoyed the dessert wine however Callie deemed it far too sweet only half of a sip in. With three bottles of wine in the car, we were back on the road. Next stop was Stellenzicht. Bergskleder was focused on catering to the foreign tourist but Stellenzicht was off the beaten path, down a dirt road. This turned out to be one of our favorite stops on the trip. Our wine tasting, while it was quaint, was intimate and informative. The 40 minutes we spent with the young woman at the tasting taught us much more than the informative video and the wine, in our expert opinion, was superior.





Six more bottles into the car and we were off. After a quick stop, taking in the countryside, we ended up at nearby Stellenrust. As we pulled into the estate, we were greeted with Grecian-style pillars and statues. The employee who was colder than the statue outside did not warmly greet us. Perhaps she did not realize that we were there for more than the free tasting but even in the midst of her rushing us through, we walked away with three more bottles, two of which were only R25 (just over $3).

At this point in the day we were ready for lunch and we headed into ‘downtown’ Stellenbosch in search of a place to eat. After taking a quick tour of the town we stopped at the most crowded place, thinking crowds translate into high-demand of good food. This was not necessarily the case and our meal was nothing special but it did give us sustenance to continue on with our day. We took a tour of the city on foot, taking in the Dutch and English inspired architecture, stopped for ice cream and were back in the car without knowing exactly where the next stop would be.



As we drove toward Franschhoek, we saw a sign for Delaire Estate and as we drove by, we decided it was a place we had to stop. So we pulled a U-y and drove up the long, winding driveway towards the estate. This was by far the most posh of the vineyards we visited. With breathtaking views of the valley, we sat outside and enjoyed our last tasting of the weekend surrounded by the Cape Town elite.





We literally rode away into the sunset towards our dinner reservation at Reuben’s in Franschhoek. Alex had read about the unique dinning experience at Reuben’s from the always-reliable NYTimes and had us all excited for the meal. The chef changes the menu each week, so every dish is a special and all the ingredients are fresh and local. Once again we ended the day with an overly satisfying three-course meal. Alex had herb-crusted rib eye, Kristine had lemon grass Cape salmon and Callie had lamb curry. While all three dishes and our appetizers were a-mazing, we still were able to squeeze in dessert- one should never doubt our eating capabilities.

Even after the two (full) days, we aren’t fully Stellenbosch satisfied and a return trip is already in the works.



Our new wine cellar includes:
21 bottles of wine
4 Pinotage
3 Cabernet Sauvignon
3 Shiraz
3 Sauvignon Blanc
2 Rose
2 Chardonnay
1 Noble Late Harvest, Bergskelder dessert wine
1 Stellenrust Simplicity- Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
1 Gewurztraminer
1 Cabernet Franc

If you happen to be one of the lucky ones, you may even get to sample some of this delicious wine with us once we figure out how we're going to get it back home!

As always,

Met Liefde Van Afrika

Callie, Kristine and Alex

P.S. (If you didn't get your fill of pictures from this blogpost, check out our newly uploaded images on our shutterfly account, apieceofcape.shutterfly.com!)

It's COMING........

We are officially World Cup ticket holders and one month from today chances are you will be jealous of our lives.  Who's excited?!