Swimming with Great White Trash

I write to you from an internet cafe in Hermanus (Hair-man-oos) South Africa. This place is beautiful, set along the southern coast on the Indian Ocean where the mountains meet the sea. The vistas are breath taking and so vast it's impossible to describe or capture on film. I've spent a good amount of time hiking the rocks along the beach and watching Southern Right Whales breach a few hundred yards of shore (OK meters, man this metric thing is a pain in the ass) .

Hermanus is famous for whale watching and cage diving with Great Whites in near by Gaansbai (don't ask me how to pronounce that one) . The purpose of my stop here was to fulfill a life long dream of diving with the top of the food chain himself the Great White Shark. My dream has been fulfilled and here's a picture and a video (I'm mouthing "WOW!")





After spending some time with these giant predators you realize that there is nothing vicious or frightening about them (Yeah, that's easy to say when your in a reinforced shark cage) they seem docile almost dopey, swimming around as to say ,"You through fish blood in the water? OK here I am what's up...oh a giant hunk of tuna...do-dee-do-dee-do" Kind of like if you were to ring the dinner bell. I would walk over sniffing the air saying ,"Hey is that pizza? awesome!" (those of you who know of my lactose intolerance know that sadly I can't eat pizza anymore)

Speaking of intolerance, the locals here are something else. The town of Hermanus is a resort type place with shops and restaurants geared for tourists.



However it's winter down here so I'm one of few non-locals around. The backpackers (or hostile as you may call it) I'm staying at has a bar which is a local jaunt. It's a working class blue collar type of place. And while the people have their charm, the place is rife with racism, you wouldn't believe some of the things that come out of these people's mouths! Last night I had a grime covered guy "Andy" who looks like Don Vito (Bam Margera's uncle...Google it if you aren't familiar) buy me a birthday drink at midnight (oh yeah it's my birthday) as he told me in his broken Afrikaans accent that he wants to move to the states, Mississippi so he can join the KKK. Ah yes we all have aspirations. So you'll understand that when I was asked, "Are you Jewish". I said "hell no!"

But there have been a few gems like Gail and Mark



They met and fell in love on the internet. She is from Tennessee and he is from South Africa. After realizing that CT was Cape Town and not Connecticut, Gail found Africa on the map (having never left Tennessee) and moved here 6 years ago. The two work at a travel/computer shop around the corner and have adopted me as their American compadre. I've spend quite a few pints talking with them at the end of the bar.

Understanding that I am a guest here, I maintain my manors and just nod as many spew their political and racist rhetoric. It's not my place, although as many of you like Sapienza know, I love arguing with morons. I do have to say that in spite of their ways, the locals have been very warm and welcoming, choosing to speak English rather than Afrikaans regardless of how bad their English is.

I don't want to paint the people of SA in a poor light, I am only referring to the group of locals who populate the bar in the place I'm staying at. To the contrary, the folks in Cape Town were very worldly and metropolitan. I met some great folks like Paul who is friends with my friend Iris. He reminds me a great deal of Jakes, my friend in Amsterdam.


He picked me up from the airport and hosted me in his apartment (flat) for 4 days. He not only opened his home to me, but he opened his life. He introduced me to his friends, took us to the Cape of Good Hope, Table Mountain and enabled me to live like a Cape Townian rather than a tourist. I was invited for a proper home cooked dinner at his friends house.

Paul is an American who's been living in Cape Town for the past 10 years and a very adventurous traveler. He's lived on almost every continent and over dinner on my last night in Cape Town he shared his amazing and horrific story of getting caught in the tsunami while staying on the beach in Thailand. Having been swept out to sea and having had his clothes ripped off and having lost friends during the ordeal, Paul has a very centered view of the event and himself. I give him tons of credit, while It makes for a sexy story "Hey I was in the tsunami" it is something I would never wish on anyone. He has been instrumental in helping me plan my trip, sharing his experiences and insights. Thanks again man, if you ever decide to return to the states you've got a place to crash.

I am having a great time on the road. Again the people are great, the scenery is awe inspiring and my soul is soaring. I am off to East London shortly to begin seeing what the local Afrikaans call "the real Africa" I believe that's the one that comes to mind when someone says Africa, with the lions and tribesmen and all. It's tough to load pictures from here but I should have complete albums up in the next week or so.

Til then here's a few

Ostriches at the Cape of Good Hope



Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain (elevation 1000 M)