Okay, since
I have some more free time than usual today, I think today is the perfect day
to write up the blog post that I’ve been wanting to make for weeks! This will
be a post dedicated to the crew of White Shark Projects. I mention them in here
all the time, but I really haven’t had a post that focuses on them, and now
that I think I have good pictures of all of them, I want to do just that! For
the record, I won’t be talking about all the staff of White Shark Projects,
since I don’t think I know all of them well enough to do that. I’ll mainly be
focusing on the ones that come out on the boat with us- so here we go!
Sibo- this
guy wasn’t here the last time I was here at WSP; he just started here a few
months ago. Sibo is the “Movie Man” of the crew, meaning he’s in charge of
taking the video that the guests can then receive at the end of the trip. He’s
hung out with the vols outside of work several times, my favorite time probably
being the first braai we did, just a few days after I arrived. I remember how,
when someone suggested we play flunkeyball, he wasn’t sure he should join since
he’d never played before. But by the end of the night, he was really into it! I
remember laughing as I watched him getting so pumped up when someone was about
to throw the ball. It was really easy to get to know Sibo so quickly, and I
hope he sticks around for a long time!
Benz- when
he goes out on the boat with us, Benz is usually the bait handler, meaning he’s
in charge of using the tuna head bait to bring the sharks as close to the cage
as possible, without them actually getting the bait. The vols have made a
little game out of giving the crew members a type of shark that matches their
personality. The other day as we were out washing wetsuits, Mayke and I heard
Benz laughing a rather “evil laugh” in the garage. We went into the garage and
said, “Benz, you’re officially a bull shark.” We will occasionally tease Benz a
little if a shark does steal the bait (which doesn’t happen a lot), but he
laughs it off. Damn, I love all of these guys!
Bee- here’s
another videographer of WSP- he also takes a lot of the video that the guests
get. He always makes sure we all wave our “shark sign” as we’re getting on and
off the boat. Bee always keeps everyone happy when he’s on the boat- guests,
crew, and vols alike! He has a smile and laugh that’s really infectious. He’s
actually leaving WSP very soon- we were all so bummed when we heard that! We’ll
definitely miss having his energy on the boat, but I’m so glad that I got to be
here in time to work with him a little longer before he leaves.
Tom- here’s
another guy that wasn’t here at WSP last time I was here. I think he said that
he started in October 2015, and I was here in May-June, so I just missed him by
a few months. He’s actually doing the job of two people here, so they keep him
pretty busy! He’s also from the UK, but he’s been all over the place- I’m
pretty jealous of his life. He’s the “shark expert” of WSP, meaning it’s his
job to talk to the guests, answer any of their shark related questions, and
help the guests in the cage. On top of that, he also works a lot with the vols,
letting us know the schedule for the day, planning extra excursions for us, and
leading lectures and things like that on no sea days. And, although not in his
job title, he’s the ultimate “braai master” of the group, which all the vols
love about him! Tom’s one of the most interesting people to talk to here, and
he’s a lot of fun to hang out with, on or off the boat.
Mandla- oh,
man, this guy! Mandla is Dive Master of the boat, so, like Tom, he works a lot
with the guests in the cage. He’s also usually the bait handler if it’s not
Benz, so he also handles the tuna head to bring the sharks close. The first
memory I have of Mandla was on my first day with this project back in 2015. I
got to the vol house, dropped my bags, then went out to the garage with the
other two new vols to see where we’d be working. There we met Mandla, who
greeted us by saying, “welcome home guys.” I’ve loved Mandla ever since. He’s another
one of my favorite people to talk to here, and not just because I love his
accent (though that helps). I remember while we were planning that first braai
just a few days after I got here, we invited Mandla, then told Jerome that he
said he might come. Jerome said it was pretty unlikely that Mandla would come,
since he didn’t hang out with us outside of work very much. Well, a few hours
later, we proved Jerome wrong! Mandla came to hang out at that braai, as well
as the one we had in the cave in De Kelders on Lizzy, Beth, and Cake’s last
night. He’s teaching me a little bit of Xhosa, a native tribal language here in
South Africa. I’ve learned some, but I have a really hard time pronouncing the
words with the clicks. I really love listening to him speak Xhosa! Mandla is
one of my favorite people in the world to talk to, his smile is very
infectious, and White Shark Projects definitely wouldn’t be the same without
him!
Jerome- of
course, I had to save this guy for last! Wow, I don’t even know where to start
with Jerome. He’s the Maintenance Manager here, so he’s not on the boat a whole
lot anymore; more often they have him working on stuff on land. Jerome works
way, way too hard here, but you’ll never hear him complain. On top of the work
he does, he always goes the extra mile for the vols! He almost always joins us
at braais, gives us rides around the area, and stops in to make sure we’re all
doing okay. Jerome is the first crew member I see in the morning, and the last
one I see before going to bed. He’s one of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve
ever met- everyone he meets instantly becomes his friend. He said to me once
that, since he’s never left South Africa, the closest thing for him is meeting
volunteers from all over the world. He said that he always treats the vols like
he’d want to be treated if he ever came to visit them in their country. Lizzy,
Beth, Cake and I were talking about him before they left. Between the four of
us, we’ve been on six continents, and we all agree that in all our travels,
Jerome is our favorite person that we’ve met, bar none. So basically, Jerome is
the best person in the world. We all agreed that, if any of us win the lottery,
inherit a lot, or somehow come upon a bunch of money, we’re going to send
Jerome, along with his wife and their two boys, around the world to visit all
of us in our home countries. And trust me, we mean it! I could go on and on
about this guy, but I’ve already dedicated more than an entire page to him, so
I’ll call it a wrap on that.
I knew as soon
as I started writing this post that it’d be longer than usual, but I think
that’s enough for today. The crew of White Shark Projects are really my
favorite guys in the world. They’re the main reason I came back to this
project- I came the first time because I love the sharks, I returned because I
love the people. These guys are a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and
they’re the most genuine people I’ve ever met. I don’t think I’ll ever be able
to stop coming back to these guys! This post’s food for thought is so true, and
so appropriate for this post: “The more I traveled the more I realized that
fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.”- Shirley MacLaine
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