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RTW2-South Africa

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Wednesday 6 August 2008

We dip again into the 2 oceans

An adventure ends, our great loop in southern Africa stops at Cape town, a city we left almost 2 months before. We get to the « 2 oceans » aquarium, in order to dip again into the memory of this sumptuous underwater creatures we already met for the most part. Between Indian and Atlantic Ocean. We want to enjoy our peregrinations to the very last drop.
Then, the time to part comes, Christophe goes back to Paris and I carry on my trip. A radical change of culture and continent. After a short stop at Kuala Lumpur, I will head for the heavenly island of Bali to meet again my family for a fortnight before keeping on alone towards the island of Java and prolonging thrilling adventures in Indonesia.
As for Africa, continent of contrasts, smiles, generosity, endemic colours and hope, I know that's only a temporary goodbye. Its land, its forests, its villages are packed with so many things seemingly trivial and yet so fascinating. As soon as we put down a foot, we never completely leave again.

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Tuesday 5 August 2008

With the great white sharks...

The oppressive atmosphere of « Jaws » floats overhead. The outing of the day takes us to the discovery of the great white sharks. In spite of the ultra-touristy side and the sensation to be squeezed in a cage to make the excursion profitable at most, the meeting with a great white shark remains unique and crystallizes a pleiad of feelings: from the nervousness to the fright, from the awe to the admiration. Powerful jaws, several raws of triangle-shaped teeth, a highly-developed sense of smell to pinpoint some micro-drops of blood within several cubic meters of water. Although it's a terrible predator, the danger it represents for man was stigmatized in a really too deep way. The danger indeed exists, but the number of deaths due to the attack of great white sharks doesn't outnumber the 10 people each year – we are far from the hundreds of people which are electrocuted each year with a toaster that doesn't work well.
the trip is running smoothly. Briefing of the participants on the lawn of the center then we go by boat to the diving area. The crew bustles about rigging up the cage to the hull of the boat. Last safety instructions and the first batch of divers slip in the cage. The main instruction is simple not to say childishly logical: do not put the hands or the feet out of cage and this on no account. It smells tuna at the back of the boat... A member of the crew jettisons a head of a fish hooked on a rope and the first creature arrives – the “Jaws” soundtrack carries on its disjointed melody as a musical background. A peaceful and massive swimming before leaping out of the water to seize the bait. A ligthning attack. The half-open mouth lets sparkle its perfect dentition. The divers are in an ideal position. I fidget on the deck. That's my turn. I slip on the weight belt and get in the cage. Insistent music still goes through my mind. From a small corner of the cage I am, the instant is grandiose. Several sharks swim in front of us and prowl around the bait. Another one attacks the foam-rubber protection of the cage.
Each diver will go two times in the cage before the boat makes a detour towards a colony of seals laying down on a small island. A favourite food for the great white sharks. We leave this place to go back to the pier and step again on our so- welcoming earth.

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Monday 4 August 2008

Southernmost tip of Africa

A short stop at Agulhas cape, the southernmost point of Africa. Not a lot of things to do except taking pictures, scratching the sand to collect shells or visiting the former lighthouse which has pride of place over the rocky peninsula.

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We leave again towards Gansbaai where we've taken an appointment with the great white sharks. En route, we cross a couple of whales which associate with the cold waters of this place. Calm and serene contemplation before the great dive among the sharks which is planned for tomorrow....

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