CT day 2

Woke up at 3:30 to catch a long ride out to Gansbaai, which is back up east on the Garden Route. There wasn't a better way to plan the logistics of that if we wanted more days in Cape Town. 

After some standard training, the 20 of us shark tourists got herded into a 12m ship and chopped out over the waves to the sharkiest part of the bay. The water was chummed; the cage was lowered. People took shifts waiting in the cage. Gabe and Matt went first; I went in last.

I don't have any pictures because I left all my valuables on shore. 

The sharks were most inquisitive and active in that first wave. I was viewing from the top deck of the boat, which was  the best vantage point. But the extra height compounds the rolling waves' rocking effect. Picture trying to lean over and peer into the water while the boat is pitching back and forth. It's a bit unsettling to think that a hard wave might send you into the water, or at least into the railing. 

One shark took the bait and thrashed against the cage. The folks inside couldn't see the ferocity as well as they could feel it. It was a bit longer than the cage, which can seat 6 people. Another shark came straight from below and came straight out of the water to its fins. 

I thought the view from the top was better than in the water. You could probably see 15 ft out horizontally and 10 ft down. I couldn't wear my glasses inside my goggles, but I don't think they'd have helped much. 

Being in the cage was an interesting experience, but it was nothing as tense and exciting as driving beside the animals at Kruger.

After we drove back, there was a long nap. We got up and hit up a garden established by the Dutch East India Trading Company, followed by more walking about town. 

Some of the defacings on the bamboo go back to 1991. 

It must be nice to always living in the shadow of so scenic a mountain. 

As usual, there was the ever-present juxtaposition of rich and poor. On Kloof St., there were galleries showing with rich people chatting and drinking white wine out front. Right next to them were kiosks of trinkets being hawked by local craftspeople. It's hard to get away from the virtually compartmentalized society. 

Here's a bad picture of a school next to a sandlot:

People walk through the sandlot all the time, and in the back of it is a dump site that is picked through by people living in the shantytown behind the lot. The trailer housing that makes up the school is on the extreme cheap end of the scale. 

For dinner, we went out to a Cape Malay place. The restaurant overlooks the city, which makes for a cool nightime view. The buffet had a few very Indian-like dishes, but there was a standout fish stew that was spicy and had very soft onions.