The spot where I watched the sunset last night
Last night was just perfect
This is where we sat around the fire, drinking beer and talking, as darkness fell
Yesterday I
watched the sunrise from the boat while getting ready to see great white
sharks, and watched the sunset from a gorgeous cliffside cave in De Kelders
while sitting around a fire drinking beer with my favorite people in the world.
Basically, yesterday was perfect. Okay, I mentioned at the end of my last blog
post that we were going to spend the evening hanging out in that cave in De
Kelders that Tom had shown us the previous day; not the freshwater drip cave,
but another one. It could hardly be called a cave, really- more like just a little
cavern in the side of the cliff. After they came back from the pub from
watching the game yesterday afternoon, we made something simple for dinner,
then Jerome picked us up at about 6:15, and, armed with our cameras and beer,
Beth, Lizzy, Cake, Dax and I squeezed into Jerome’s car and headed back to De
Kelders. We stopped at a store along the way and picked up some firewood to
make a fire in the little pit that we’d seen at this cave the last time we were
there. It was a bit of a climb from the spot where Jerome dropped us off to the
cave, and we arrived back at about 6:45- 45 minutes before when we’d heard
sunset would be. We dropped our bags, went down to the beach, and climbed up
onto a huge rock that jutted up out of the sand to get a perfect view of the
sun setting over the ocean. We sat up there until the sun dipped under some
clouds right on the horizon, then returned to our little cavern to just drink
and talk about how perfect everything about this was. We’d invited the other
volunteers to come join us, but they’d said no. We talked about what a mistake
that was- it seems like the other volunteers in Dax’s house don’t really take
advantage of the opportunities that are offered here at White Shark Projects and
in South Africa in general. It’s not just about being out on the boat seeing
sharks. It’s also about seeing that freshwater drip cave, or visiting Cape
Agulhas, or a million other things that we do with our free time that the
others are missing out on. I think they’ll regret it when they’re gone, but oh
well. Their mistake- we tried to convince them to come.
We stayed
out in that cave until a little before nine, when Jerome had said he’d come and
pick us up. We could’ve definitely stayed longer, but we didn’t want to make it
too late, since Jerome had work in the morning. We’d learned shortly before
going out to the cave that there’d be two trips today, but there was only room
for three volunteers on the first trip, and the second trip was completely full.
Since some of the volunteers were leaving soon, I decided that I’d let them
take the three open spots. Even though Lizzy, Beth, and Cake were planning on
going on the first trip, we were all having such a good time when Jerome picked
us up we didn’t want to just go to bed (and Dax wasn’t crazy about the thought
of going back to his house). So instead, we asked Jerome to spot in town and
get us some more beer since the shop next to us was closed, which he did (we
all agree, that guy is an angel). Then we went back to our house, pulled a
bunch of blankets and pillows outside to our front lawn, and the five of us
laid out under the night sky looking up at the stars. It was a beautiful night;
the moon was full and there were so many stars out. The night sky is just
gorgeous here- there are fewer city lights so you can actually see the entire Milky
Way stretching across the sky. We stayed out there until a little after
midnight talking and enjoying the perfect night. We actually nearly fell asleep
out there, then laughed about the possibility of that happening and having
Mandla and Jerome finding the five of us out here at five am the next morning.
Eventually, we called it a night and went to bed.
This morning
I got to sleep in a little since I wasn’t going on the first trip. I wasn’t
thinking I’d go on the second one either, but when I got up at about nine, I
heard Tom talking to Cake outside. I joined them to hear Tom say that the
second trip would be a bit later than usual- about eleven or 11:30, and some clients
cancelled, so there would actually be room for six volunteers. Those six ended
up being me, Lizzy, Beth, Cake, Matt, and Mayke, another volunteer from Dax’s
house. I’d brought my camera out on the past several trips, so I decided that
for this one I’d just leave it at home and live in the moment. It actually
turned into one of the best trips since I’ve been here- we saw five sharks, a
couple of which were really feisty and inquisitive. The ocean was a bit rough
this morning, and some of the guests were getting seasick, so it wasn’t a super
long trip. We were out on the water a little after eleven, and back into the
harbor by shortly after one.
This
afternoon has been pretty simple and uneventful here in Gansbaai- we’ve mainly
just relaxed here at home. Cake’s making dinner tonight- Dax and Tom are over
here at our house right now. Tomorrow there’s a six o’clock start in the
garage, and the first trip will be another volunteer exclusive, which should be
really nice- I’ll probably get in the cage again. The second trip will be only
clients, but I’m okay with that. Volunteer exclusive trips are my absolute
favorite since everyone is so laid back. The past few days here have been the
absolute best, and tomorrow sounds like it should be great too. This post’s
food for thought: “See the world. It’s more fantastic that any dream made or
paid for in factories. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security.”- Ray
Bradbury
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