Wine and Sharks

Well, today is my last day of touring South Africa before I leave for Bloemfontein tomorrow morning to start my internship at the University of Free State. It’s been an awesome two weeks, but I’m ready to be able to settle down in one place and get into a routine.

Afrikaans Language Monument

Some of the old wine barrels

Yesterday, we toured several wineries around Cape Town. But first, we stopped at the Afrikaans Language Monument. It symbolizes all of the nationalities and languages that contributed to this language that is less than 100 years old—it only became an official language in 1925. It was interesting and had a great view of all of the vineyards below. The first winery we toured was KWV. We learned a bit about the different barrels that are used to make the wines, the grapes that are used, and how long the process takes. Then, we went to a tasting and learned more about the different aromas present in the various wines, foods to pair them with, etc. We tried several delicious wines, as well as some brandy and liqueurs. Then we went to two other more casual tastings at Tocara and Neethlingshof. We had lunch in the adorable old Dutch town of Stellenbosch and were able to walk around the town a little. It’s home to a university famous for viticulture (grape cultivation and wine making), since it’s in the heart of wine country.

Margo and I at the vineyard

Today, Margo and I woke up at 4:15am to go cage diving with sharks! Remember when I said riding an ostrich was the scariest thing I’d ever done? I lied. This was much more terrifying. When we got there, another boat was leaving, so we didn’t even have to wait for the sharks to come. We put on our wetsuits and got right in. Well, I shouldn’t make it sound so effortless. The skipper had to coach me in for a good five minutes. The water was very cold and the cage was tiny! I was already scared, and I hadn’t even seen a shark yet. Within a few minutes of getting everyone into the cage, a shark appeared. We were lucky because the visibility under the water was very good, so we could see really far—not that it was necessary since the sharks were close enough to touch if you were crazy enough to want to do that. We didn’t have snorkels or scuba gear, so when sharks came, the guides just yelled “DOWN!” and we had to take a big breath and go under. It was so hard to stay under the water, even with the weight belts they gave us. Since there were so many sharks, we were constantly going down, which was exhausting after a while. It was so cool to see the sharks that closely though. It even bit the cage right in front of me one time, and several other times, its fin came into the cage as it swam by. I can’t even describe how scary it was to see it only inches away from my face. We had an awesome day. We saw 13 sharks over all, and the biggest was 4.5 meters long! It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’m really glad I did, but I don’t think it’s something I’d repeat. Sorry I don’t have any pictures from today. It was so rushed since there were so many sharks and they wanted us to be able to see as many as possible!