Cape Town, I think I'm falling in love with you!

I've been in Cape Town for almost two weeks now, and I am just absolutely loving this place! There are mountains on one side, beautiful white sandy beaches on the other, and the bustling city is sandwiched right in the middle. There is always something to do and outdoorsy stuff is the specialty here. This is the type of place where you could climb a mountain in the morning and go surfing in the afternoon. My kind of place!!

So today I decided to do something a little adventurous... I went paragliding!! Basically it's flying through the air attached to a big parachute. The wind conditions were perfect for launching from the beach near my house using a motorized paraglider, so I met up with the pilots in the morning, and we got ready for our flight!

Dad, I wore my helmet!

All ready to go!

 We flew over the beaches for about half an hour and I had an incredible view of the city, ocean and mountains. It wasn't scary at all once you were up there. It just felt relaxing and calm. Until my pilot decided to do some crazy dips haha!

Look who's in control!

I also got to drive a scooter along the beach... it went 60k/hr... woohoo!

And I got a ride on their bike! ZOOM ZOOM!

I had such a fun day today!

Thanks Setfan and ParaPax Paragliders!

I've been having lots of fun doing other stuff as well around town. A few days ago I went up to the top of Table Mountain and hiked around for a bit, taking in the amazing views of the city.

Then I went to check out the beach.

I also went on a harbour boat cruise and saw some really cool stuff.

Bottle nosed Dolphin

Seal, just chillin in a tire.

The boat driver joked that she was my mom, I thought it was more funny than she did, obviously!

Then I checked out the aquarium downtown.

Giant eel!

Seahorses are so cool, is it weird that I want to be one?

baby moon jellies

Biggest crab ever!!!

I found Nemo! Lots of Nemos!

Ragged tooth shark... thankfully behind lots of protective glass this time.

 

 

Some other random amazing stuff around Cape Town:

 

Giant lego man on the waterfront

Cool ferris wheel also on the waterfront

I sat and listened to this band for about half an hour they were so good!

This dog. Best of life.

The view from a city bus tour I did... amazingly beautiful.
When can I move here?

 

Diving with Great White Sharks!

Today was my first day off from working with the penguins, so I decided to go Shark Cage Diving!

I had to get up super early for the 2 hour drive to Gansbaai, but it was a really beautiful drive through wineries and amazing mountains. The absolutely spectacular pink sunrise lighting the scenery didn't hurt either! The beauty of this country keeps astounding me at every turn.

So we got out on the boat, and within 10 minutes we saw the first Great White Shark swim by!

First shark sighting of the day!

Me and my new friends realizing we now have to get in the water with that thing!

 

 So we hopped in our wetsuits and got in the cage. It was a big metal cage with bars that honestly looked like a shark could bite right through them, but they do this all the time right? It has to be safe... right??!!!

Me getting ready!

Krystle going for it!
 

But the cage was attached to the boat and you just had to hold your breath and pop under the water for a few seconds when the sharks swam by, or towards you!!

OMG there's a shark!

 

The famous fin, cue the music from Jaws!

WHOA! There's a shark right behind me!

 

 So soon it was my turn into the cage...

And the sharks came close.. it felt like their fins were going to come into the cage at times!

Please don't eat me!

 

 

The tour baited the water with tuna fish gut juice and tuna heads, but they don't actually feed the sharks so that they don't become accustomed to food from humans. But we learned that there are only an estimated 1000 Great White Sharks left in the wild. This is because humans hunt them fearing that they are a danger, and for shark fin soup. In reality there are more people killed by dolphins each year than sharks!!! Please people, we need to save these beautiful creatures instead of persecuting them. I <3 sharks.

 

Look at that fin!



 

This is Africa: Top 10 Moments continued

Hi everyone! Here are the rest of my favourite moments from my African Safari...

 

6. Mpondo the chief

We visited a small village and got a welcome speech from their super enthusiastic 83 year old chief named after the British Pound because he was born a year when there was a change in the reigning monarch in England. He told us an incredible story of being attacked by a Leopard when he was young, but he won the fight, survived despite injuries and was wearing the leopard skin to prove it!

7. Camping under the stars

I love camping. I want to live in a tent, and that is looking more and more like my only option since I have no job or money from now until February haha! But seriously ,it was so great to have campfire hangouts every night, and to go to bed looking out at the stars through the top window in the tent and my favourite - waking up all cuddly and warm in a sleeping bag with cool fresh air all around you. Love it. It could only have been better if the hippos were a little quieter ;)

 

 

 

 

8. Baby Animals!

I couldn’t believe how many baby animals we saw! Baby animals are the cutest!!! We saw baby baboons, rhinos, crocodiles, twin baby giraffes, hyenas, cheetahs, lions, hippos, elephants, buffalo, zebras, ostrich… so many babies! My heart melted about a million times.

9. Random moments!

These probably count for highlights number 11- infinity, but here are a few more awesome random moments…

Me and Matthais being attacked by a monkey after taking its picture!
Swimming in a natural hot spring pool in the moonlight.
Meeting the super enthusiastic kids at a local school.
Playing my Canadian rock playlist for Marc driving in the front... how can you not like City and Colour, Tragically Hip, the Sheepdogs, etc. right?! and also trying my best to represent Canada properly by keeping up with the Germans in beer drinking and Jagermiester shots although I'm not too sure I was successful.
Climbing the giant baobab tree.
Taking the flight over the Okavango Delta at sunset.
The breathtaking orange-red sunsets every night!
That time we had to roll our tent up not once, not twice, but 4 times!
Singing and dancing along with the polers in the Delta... totally out of step but still having fun haha, Seeing a hippo bathing in the water at the very edge of Victoria Falls (how that is possible I have no idea!) 
I can now find south using only constellations… but only in the southern hemisphere, so not too practical to my real life… unless I move to South Africa… hmmmmmm.  

10. Meeting so many new friends from all over the world, and getting to spend some quality time with one of my best friends, Ananda. Much love to you all and I hope we meet again!