Some action on Shark Lady's boat yesterday
Well, it’s
been another very busy few days with White Shark Projects! Today was the eighth
day straight that the volunteers have been out on the water, which has been
absolutely wonderful! That one week straight of no sea days was nice because we
were able to go out and do other things, but now it’s also been great to go out
and see the great white sharks that all the volunteers love so much. Yesterday
there actually weren’t any clients scheduled on our boat, but Karla managed to
get us all spots on the boats of other companies in the area. The two Alina’s
went with Shark Diving Unlimited, and Amber and I went on Shark Lady. It was
nice to see how another boat does things differently from ours, and was also
nice to not have any jobs on the boat, but rather to just go up on the fly deck
with my camera and enjoy the great view.
This
afternoon, after getting off the boat and returning to the house I learned
that, since the weather is due to turn bad again in the next couple of days,
there won’t be a trip out to sea on Sunday, the day I’m scheduled to leave. The
bus only goes to and from Cape Town on days with trips to sea, to pick up and
drop off the clients. That means that, unfortunately, they have no choice but
to drop me off back at Atlantic Point a day early. Jan came and told me the
news, saying that they’d pay for my extra night’s stay in the hostel, but
that’s just the only option available. So it turns out tonight will be my last
night here at the White Shark Projects volunteer house.
I just got
back from a long walk around the harbor and along the beautiful coastline of
South Africa. I’m very sad to say that my time with White Shark Projects is
almost over. I’ve been in this beautiful place for almost exactly a month, and
it had been one of the best months of my life. I’ll never forget the first time
I went in the cage with the sharks, the volunteer exclusive trip when I went in
the frigid water without a wetsuit, the time I caught the brown shyshark with
my bare hands while snorkeling in Hermanus, visiting the coastline of the
Southernmost tip of Africa, or any of the other incredible experiences that
I’ve had here with this project. I’ve always loved the ocean, and I’m going to
miss living five minutes from it, as I’ve been lucky enough to do the past
month. My fellow volunteers have come to feel like family, and it’ll be very
hard to no longer see them every day. A lot of volunteers get involved here
multiple times, and I’m confident that I’ll return to this project sometime and
work with it again, hopefully for longer than four weeks. Either way, though,
this month has been so incredibly special. Not only have I learned a lot more
about white sharks and come to love them even more than I did before working
here, I’ve gotten the most wonderful adventures around this place and made some
friendships that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. Staring at my
suitcase sitting in the corner of the room, I’m really dreading getting it out
and packing up all my stuff. However, I’m trying to stay positive, and as a
song I know says, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”.
I’m glad that I have CARE baboon sanctuary and the second stage of my African
adventure to look forward to, and I’m very excited to get involved in that
great project! Tonight, hanging with the other volunteers and our wonderful
“Old Bean”, will be a night of celebration, not sorrow. This post’s food for
thought is a quote that I know is so very true, especially in my life: “We
leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even
though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by
going back there.”- Pascal Mercier
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