Apr 15 2014
One weekend in Cape Town
This weekend was very special due to the reason that it is my penultimate weekend in South Africa.
Last weekend Saskia and I wanted to do the shark cage diving in Gansbaai but it was cancelled because of weather conditions. This Saturday finally the wait was over. Early in the morning at 4am we were picked up by the organization and drove to Kleinbaai Harbour in Gansbaai. We arrived there at 7am and were welcomed with a small but good breakfast. After eating we boarded the small tour boat bringing us to an area close to a seal island. It did not take a long time until two great white sharks appeared. In fact every time that I think of a shark I hear the music of “Jaws” in my ears but when I actually saw the sharks my fear was gone. The bigger one was almost 2,5 meters and it was impressive to see them swim around the boat.
A Great White Shark swimming next to our boat
Even though they attracted the sharks with huge tuna heads the sharks were not at all interested in us or in the fish heads. Seeing the sharks at the surface was pretty impressive but Saskia and I were thrilled by the thought of diving next to them. Once in the cage we were really excited about seeing the sharks in their element. First I was a little bit scared but the sharks turned out to be really calm. It was a really good experience, especially for me because before I came to South Africa I was really afraid of being confronted with a shark. Seeing them swimming next to me took away my fear of those huge but elegant and calm creatures. I can recommend the shark cage diving to everyone who has just like me seen too many horror movies starring sharks because this experience totally changed my mind about those animals.
Saskia and me at shark cage diving
On Saturday there was a great happening taking place for every Muizenberg local interested in surfing. The Muizenberg Improvement District plans to build a Surfers’ Circle Walk of Fame and therefore hosted a fundraiser event. The MID want to realize the project, including a monument of Heather Price, a pioneer of South African surfing, through this charity gala. It was a nice evening and we got to learn more about South African surfing pioneers through songs, pictures and videos. A band and a tombola provided the right atmosphere.
Me, Saskia, Sara, Ant, Freddie and Maddy at the fundraiser
On Sunday we went to a concert in Kirstenbosch near Cape Town. Jeremy Loops was the star of the evening but he was not showing any preciousness as he sang, danced and had fun on the stage.
Jeremy Loops on stage
Before starting to sing he said that his aim for the evening was to make people happy and you could see that he reached this aim when everybody stood up and danced to his songs. It was a great happening and we really enjoyed having a picnic, listening to good music and watching the sunset over the amazing Kirstenbosch gardens while seeing the view of Table Mountain in the background.
Sunset at Kirstenbosch
Anna, MBC volunteer from Germany
