Kathy’s Travels

Welcome to Hermanus!!!!! A perfect base to act like shark bait for the Great Whites that frequent the area.

Hermanus Backpackers: 8.5/10 Comfortable… thin pillows… but good beds… friendly, helpful staff and lots of activities. Free breakfast 😀 Walking distance from shops and resturants.

Wake up at 6am (or rather all night due to a snorer, 5am I gave up and slept in the TV room) time to get ready for shark bait. Many people disagree with shark cage diving and I must admit I had my reservations too. Arguments against this part of the tourist industry include that they are feeding the sharks, creating a connection between man and food, therefore increasing the chance of man being food, bringing the sharks closer to land where bathers are etc…. However, we were out there for almost 6hrs and only saw 4 sharks for about 10sec each time. Some boats didn’t even get to see one and there was only one boat that was lucky enough to get a “playful” shark. Great Whites are very curious and that is what brings them to the boats. The bait is always the kind of food that makes up their natural diet and the skippers try not to let the shark eat it, but rather use it to catch their attention.

We were not able to get into the cage for most of the day and only on the last shark did we jump in and view it underwater for all of 2seconds before it moved on. It was still amazing and I must admit my fear has diminshed and I respect these beautiful creatures more. That is not to say that I would like to meet one while scuba diving. I went with “Shark Lady” charters and was very impressed with the professional and educational angle they took. The cost was R800 plus R50 for the shuttle. This includes a light breakfast, lunch and coffee.

Hermanus has a very nice colonial seaside town feel. With lovely little shops and a craft market to pick some gifts… In one of the quaint art shops I came across a stunning print of an African Wild Dog. They said they would drop the price and when I told my folks about it they said it would be my christmas present… a little late.. but well worth it. So here I am… after travelling half way around the world…. I find my christmas present… and what a find. 🙂 🙂 🙂

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.