The Return of Kelly Slater

The day I created this blog I was sitting on the couch at my house in Salado, Texas flipping through South Africa travel books, trying to figure out what on Earth to pack, and just freaking out in general about the trip I was about to make. In that first post, I made a list of the Top ___ (I forgot the number now) things I wanted to do once I got here. Well ladies and gentleman, here it is...the most exciting, anticipated part of my trip thus far....SHARK CAGE DIVING!

Wyatt and I in the cage. Yikes!

Wyatt made me wake up WAY too early for our 2 hour drive to Gaansbaai, the shark cage diving capital of South Africa. Of course we arrived about an hour early, so we signed in and made ourselves at home in the "Great White House." After devouring some complimentary breakfast (don't mind if I do) and scoping out the rest of the group, we headed outside to get our life jackets, some obnoxiously large rain coats, and a few instructions on sea sickness. 

My rain-dress.

He looks like a kid who just got caught stealing candy before dinner, ha!

Wyatt, being the humble guy that he is, thinks he is immune to sea sickness. His reasoning? He has a lake house. Now I'm no hustler, but I know a money making opportunity when I see one, so I decided to make a bet. It went like this: I get to take seasickness pills because I'm a baby, but he isn't allowed to take anything. If he gets sick, he owes me the most expensive dinner he's ever laid eyes on, and if he doesn't then I owe him the same. Stay tuned for the results..

Next it was time to board the ship! It was a particularly rough day at sea (God must have known I couldn't afford dinner if I lost the bet) and the ride out to our diving spot was too much fun. When I was a little girl my favorite thing to do was get in the boat with my Uncle Dan and make him drive as crazy as possible, so it's so surprise that I was giggling like a three year old the entire time. Once we got to our destination the crew started handing out wetsuits, assigning groups to go in the cage, and baiting the sharks. Within the first 10 minutes we had already seen our first shark!

They used tuna heads to bait the sharks in, but the entire crew made a really big point to tell us that they are in no way trying to feed the sharks. If they did end up feeding them, the sharks would begin to correlate boats with food, and that's not fun for anyone involved.

These animals are so gigantic it's unbelievable. I was SO excited to get in the water!

They don't call him Jaws for nothin'..

After we got our wetsuits, Wyatt and I hustled down to the bottom deck and began sucking up to the marine biologist in charge of the cage so we could try to pull in some special privileges (none of you reading this should be surprised). He was a really cool guy and put us first in the group for the next cage. 

Wyatt climbed in before me and once he got in, turned to me and said, "Umm..Amanda, are you going to be okay?" I can get a little claustrophobic at times and apparently the cage didn't have much breathing room. Whatever, we drove two hours, took an hour long boat ride, and the sharks were going wild, so in the cage I went!

I'm not going to lie, though, it was a bit scary!

Here are a few pictures from the boat:

YIKES!

Glad I'm not you, tuna.

They were thrashing like mad men.

Dun dun...dun dun...

This one's name is Chopper. He got all of those cuts from a boat propeller, poor guy.

Here are some awesome videos that Wyatt took with his underwater camera. I think they can do a lot better job explaining what we saw than I can (probably because I was so scared I shut my eyes half of the time):

After the ridiculous shark cage diving we all boarded the boat and headed by seal island. If you've ever watched Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and I know you all have because everyone raves about it like it's their job, this is the island they always talk about with the "ring of death." Basically, it's a ring around the island that great whites stay in because food is easier to find than a Big Mac. 

They're so cute! Right now it's only females and babies on the island; all of the males are out looking for food!

Seal Island: A Seal's Dream Vacation

Bye seals!

After seal island it was time to head back to land, but this time we were so tired I don't think anyone on the boat said a word. I actually fell asleep on Wyatt's shoulder for over half of the ride! He claims I was sleep talking about Atami, a sushi restaurant in College Station, but I'm not sure if I believe him or not.

I'm sure you're all dying to know who won the bet about sea sickness. Here it is kids..(drumroll)...WYATT! He was such a trooper and didn't even talk about getting sick once! The only problem is, we were both so exhausted that when we got home a "30 minute nap" turned into sleeping for the next 12 hours, so dinner didn't happen. I made sure to buy him breakfast, though, don't worry!

3..2..1..BUNGY

Before Wyatt came to South Africa we spent a lot of time talking about what his "number 1 must-do" activity would be. Every time I brought up the question I got the same answer: bungy jump. At first I was a bit hesitant because first of all, the darn bridge is seven hours away, but more importantly, it's a whopping 216 meters tall (about 709 feet).  I'm not sure why he was so insistent on throwing himself off of it, but the guy flew across the world so I figured I owed it to him to make the trip. And away we went...

The drive itself was really fun and gorgeous beyond all belief. We got to see almost all of the Garden Route, which is basically the South African equivalent of Route 66. The drive takes you all along the southern coast of Africa through the wine lands, mountains, desert, coastline, and eventually forest, our final destination.

We could tell we were getting close to the bridge because, well for one my phone has a GPS, but more importantly, we started to go over larger and larger bridges with HUGE gorges below them. It all started with about a 400 ft tall bridge and we began to freak out that it was the one we had to jump off of. Then, we crossed yet another even higher one and got even more scared. Finally, we arrived at Bloukrans Bridge and I think it is safe to say we were both scared out of our minds. Okay, maybe I was a little more afraid..

This is Bloukrans Bridge. It's the tallest bridge in South Africa and the third tallest in the world. They also have a huge Guinness World Record certificate near the jump site, proving that it is the tallest bungy jump in the world, too. Oh joy!

When we first arrived we practically ran to the viewing balcony and stared at the bridge for a good 10 minutes in disbelief. Did we seriously just drive 7 hours for this? There was absolutely no backing down.

Instead of sticking around and starting at the bridge in fear we decided to just man up, pay the cost and do it already. Within 10 minutes we had paid, gotten into our harnesses, listened to the most condensed safety briefing of all time (that's beginning to become a theme in South Africa) and were headed out to the jump site.

The walk out was probably one of the scariest parts of the entire experience. The floor of the walkway is chain metal-ish and didn't feel the slightest bit sturdy. Not to mention, Wyatt and I were stuck behind a really scared girl who was walking slower than most people crawl.

Here's a zoomed in picture of the jump site in the middle of the bridge.

As soon as we got out to the site we were greeted with booming techno and about 10 guys with the biggest smiles I've ever seen. I felt like I was in a filming for a Backstreet Boys music video more than doing one of the most extreme experiences the world has to offer. Wyatt was freaking out that they wouldn't be able to jam to music, dance all over the place, and tie the perfect knot to keep us alive, and I can't say I blame him. All in all, I think the relaxed vibe out on the bridge actually did help us to keep our cool a little better, if anything because we were joking at how ridiculous it was.

One of the Jonas Brothers read our weight aloud (thanks a lot, dude) and put us in order according to which bungy cords they would use. Go figure, the girl that could barely walk out there was up first. She was actually a trooper about it, got all tied up, and jumped! Seeing someone else go really got me into panic mode and I was clinging to Wyatt's arm like a 5 year old being dropped off at their first day of school. After everyone else in the group had gone they saved the best two for last!

Wyatt was up before me and by the looks of this picture was beginning to have second thoughts! Just kidding, he was actually super brave and even had a dance party with the guys about to push him off.

They blared music the entire time, so even while we were getting strapped in it was difficult to hear what the guys were saying. You know you're good at your job when you can blast Enrique Iglesias and still manage to tie someone up to jump off the tallest bridge in Africa.

We both agreed that this was by far the scariest part of the whole experience.

Here's the view from the jump platform. It's so insanely gorgeous!

Two guys stand on either side of you, have you hold your arms out in a T in front of them, yell "3, 2, 1, BUNGY" and give you a little push. AHHHH!

The view as you're falling is absolutely amazing!

After his jump. Like a pro!

I was up after Wyatt and starting to get really, really, really nervous. We're talking 710 feet here. 

I kept repeating to myself "breathe Amanda, breath."

I guess it worked because I DID IT!

All I could think about in the air was how gorgeous the ground below me was. I wasn't even the slightest bit scared once I left the platform. Now I'm just insanely jealous of birds.

Once you're done bouncing all over the place, a guy rides all the way down the bungy cord, attaches some straps to you, and brings you back up. We had a nice little chat and enjoyed beautiful views of the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.

After being brought back up I was practically attacked by about 15 of the guys working there, had the straps removed, and ran to hug Wyatt and celebrate SURVIVING!

Abseil Africa: The Return of Jurassic Park

On Sunday we somehow managed to wake up insanely early and head to the car rental office. Wyatt, not being accustomed to how ridiculously far we have to walk to get anything done, found a way to complain the entire way there. Okay, I may be over exaggerating, but the point is the kid hates walking anywhere. We finally arrived at Hertz, dealt with a few dilemmas renting the car (has anyone ever rented a car problem free?) and were headed to Cape Town. Because I was the actual renter I had to be the person to drive away from the lot, but there are two major problems with this: 1. I haven't ever driven on the left side of the road, and 2. I can't drive a stick shift. Uh-oh! Sam hyperventilated in the backseat and Wyatt helped me make it the three blocks I needed to so that we could shift drivers. Once Wyatt took over we only had a few scares at the intersections (Sam is still hyperventilating at this point) until he got the hang of it. Actually, at one point Sam had her hand on the door handle to literally eject herself from the car. Overkill? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely.

We arrived at Table Mountain with plans to hike all the way up and abseil down. Now, I'm not sure if you've seen this thing, but the mountain is gigantic. The only way to go was up, so that's what we did!

About two steps into the hike I managed to find someone new to talk to (insert Wyatt's sigh here) and she was really interesting! (I'm going to call her Susan because I have an awful memory and can't remember her real name). Susan, a native Californian, was in Cape Town for a mere week for work with her biological research company. Hello! Right up my alley! 

Before we could even really hit the trail we ran into a homeless guy trying to give us "free maps", and unfortunately Susan, being an unknowing tourist, fell for it, dragging us along with her. After paying R5 for an unnecessary map of a place that has one way up and one way down, we hit the trails again. Silly Americans.

The view was gorgeous.

During another break we met a really friendly couple from none other than Texas A&M! It was so nice to talk to someone about College Station, football, and crazy times at Northgate, I actually felt like I was back in Texas! Here are a few more pictures from the hike up:

Wyatt and I by a cool tree

The hike we did was called Plettenberg Gorge. If it looks difficult, that's because it was.

We finally reached the top of the mountain, enjoyed the view for a while, and made our way to the abseil station. 

Clouds were rushing over the top of the mountain. (Note to self: in the future, this means conditions are not optimal to abseil). 

"No experience required, just a bit of insanity." HA. No joke.

Wyatt, Sam and I hung out with the abseil instructor for a few minutes while we waited for the group before us to finish, and in these few minutes two crucial things happened. First, the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. No joke, we were all freezing on top of this mountain. And second, the entire top of the mountain got covered in a cloud. If you've been keeping up with my blog, you probably remember me talking about Table Mountain and how sometimes a cloud, dubbed "the table cloth", covers the mountain at a moments notice. Well, this was that moment. So here we are, three innocent American kids trying to be extreme in South Africa, freezing, shaking, scared out of our minds to throw ourselves over the mountain's edge..it was probably quite a sight.

After getting strapped in and receiving a 30 second safety briefing and instructional, we were headed to the edge. Before we started Sam decided she didn't want to go through with it and I can't say I blame the girl. Wyatt and I are both a little too competitive, and I don't think either one of us wanted to admit that we didn't want to do it either, so down we went!

Male model extraordinaire getting mentally prepared.

The instructor kept telling me to scoot back and I was taking the smallest steps imaginable to do so.

And they're off!

This is my "what the heck was I thinking when I signed up for this" face.

After abseiling down all 112 meters (the tallest commercial abseil in the world!) I think both Wyatt and I came to an agreement that it was the most scary thing either one of us had ever done. I'm convinced that the conditions had a lot to do with it, because friends of mine went on a nice day and said it wasn't too bad, but let me tell you..it was bad. At one point the wind got so strong I got blown right onto the side of the mountain. Wyatt was next to me and we just looked at each other, made the "let's get the heck down this thing" face at each other, and kept on truckin'.

This is from the bottom of the abseil looking up. Wyatt went a bit faster than me and when he got to the bottom he kept yelling "Amanda! Look down! You won't even be able to see me!" REAL encouraging!

Once we both finished we had to hike back up the mountain to meet Sam. The hike back looked like a scene straight out of Jurassic Park.

At the top we had lunch, warmed up a bit, and made our way to the cable car to head down the mountain.

Our descent down the mountain via the cable car. The difference between the climate at the top and bottom of the mountain was insane.