This Blog Entry was imported via Email so the Punctuation and Graphics are a disaster. I’m just adding some old content so the Blog isn’t empty. – Thanks – Joe Jeter
We are packed up and waiting a little longer before we head to the airport. We have a 2 hour flight to Johannesburg, a 4 hour layover, then it’s a long, long way home. Tim flies to London and then Los Angeles, I fly to Atlanta and then Los Angeles. We leave within 10 minutes of each other but due to flight times and layovers I get home 4 hours earlier. Fortunately we have a hotel around the corner from LAX where my trusty Lexus will be waiting to take us home BUT probably after a night in Los Angeles to start the re-aclimation process.
Tim has been gone since May 5 and I left the following day, May 6 but I also returned home for 2 days before heading out to Seoul. This is by far the longest trip he has ever taken and after landing on 4 continents in 4 weeks, I think it might be the longest trip he ever takes. Of course with the evolution of his job, it’s never safe to assume anything. In the next few months we already know we are going to Los Angeles (10 days), Lake Tahoe (5 days), a secret destination (probably a week), and that’s all before November.
It has been said that you never stop learning. On this trip that turned out to be true in so many ways. For instance, I learned that a town like Cape Town could turn into a full blown City in 10 years time. The change here is unbelievable. It’s like I left Chula Vista 10 years ago and returned to downtown San Diego. They’ve done a nice job. With the exception of the traffic jams we have seen entering the City in the morning and exiting the City in the afternoon, most of the rest of the development is attractive but the sleepy small town atmosphere is gone. The other thing that caught me completely by surprise was that I forgot we were flying from Summer (everywhere else I’ve been) to winter (here in Africa). The temperatures have been mild enough but we got hit with rain and gale force winds and hail but mostly at night when we were tucked into our 8th floor Suite overlooking the city. One night the hail was blowing horizontally against the window and it sounded like we were being shot at.
Fortunately the weather broke and yesterday we were able to do what everybody else had flown down here for; go shark diving. Not having any idea what you are getting into can also be a learning experience. I didn’t know that we had a 2-1/2 hour drive to get to the departure point. I also didn’t know we were going to be on a relatively small boat with four 250 horsepower motors and would go charging out through 6 foot surf to get out to what is lovingly called Shark Alley. National Geographic and the Discovery Channel have both been here because, apparently, it is the highest concentration of Great White Sharks in the world. They feed off of 60,000 seals that nest on two islands with a narrow waterway between them called Shark Alley. Unsuspecting Seals make the swim between islands only to become a quick snack for a 12 to 15 foot shark. Our mission was to dress up in thick wetsuits and climb down into a 12′ long cage strapped to the side of the boat. Once there you could pull yourself underwater and watch the sharks as they swam up and watched you. While it might have been possible to reach out and pet a couple of them, that would have been ill-advised if you wanted to keep all of your limbs. Yesterday, according to the Marine Biologists on the boat, we had 9 different sharks come by to visit us. The largest was a 4 meter female (about 13′ long). They have seen larger but, trust me, when you are in a cage underwater and something the length of a minivan swims by you it’s large enough. Tim caught these pics from an underwater camera he rented. I think they get the message across.
No, those aren’t postcards. I was underwater right next to him holding onto a railing and watching in amazement as these magnificent animals swam peacefully past us. At times it appeared as if they were checking us out as they would swim directly towards the cage and only at the last minute, turn and swim lengthways along the side. They are incredibly graceful and, except for when they open their mouths to eat something, they seem rather cool. I have many, many photographs and much video footage of them going after the lure and bait we had hanging off the side of the boat. When I have time I will put together a more complete journal. There is a cool video at the bottom of this Post.
Over the last month we have accumulated a lot of “stuff” Tim gets free shirts and souvenirs everywhere he works and we have purchased some other items to bring home. This time we have a range of goodies from African chocolate and Glass Art to stone carvings and a raft of T-shirts. I’m checking 2 large bags weighing a total of 120 pounds and Tim is checking two bags with around 90 pounds of clothes and merchandise. He is capacity limited to 50 pounds per bag on his Trans-Atlantic flight but I’m good to 70 pounds per bag. Fortunately my suitcases all have 4 wheels and roll quite easily or I’d have to bring home one of the Africans to help me carry my bags. We had to purchase yet another bag to have enough space to bring everything home. Then Tim had the foresight to purchase a luggage scale so we could divide it up according to who could carry the most weight. I actually made fun of him when he purchased it but had to eat my words this morning. It was literally worth its weight in gold. I’m going to cut this last Journal Entry short so I can save some goodies for the real final entry. We just wanted to say Hello to everybody and tell you that we miss you and are anxious to get home now that this crazy adventure is over.
Thanks to those of you who responded to my emails. I know that some of them were quite long and it’s never as interesting when you are at home reading about what someone else is doing literally on the other side of the planet. The great irony is that when Tim and I met this was my life and now he has dragged me back out of hibernation and onto the road again. Stay tuned for the next big adventure.
Joe & Tim
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