A Taste of South Africa

Once again I found myself in wine country -- this time in South Africa.

I figured it was a good opportunity to compare and contrast South African wines and Argentinean wines so I spent a day tasting. (See my Mendoza blog: http://bothsidesnowblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/when-in-argentina.html)

The day of wine tasting began with a winery tour. (Best to get that out of the way before tasting too many wines!) There we learned that South African wineries only use French or American oak to make their wine barrels. Although oak trees grow in South Africa, the oak trees here grow too quickly and therefore, the wood is too porous to hold the wine.

The hot summers in South Africa mean more sugar in the grapes. More sugar means higher alcohol content after fermentation. In general, South African wines have less acid and more of a fruity taste than wines from Europe.

We learned about the differences in the grapes used to make different varietals. An expert can look at these vines and know which grape is which, for me, the signs were very helpful!

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"Good Hope"

The Cape of Good Hope. In 1487 the Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, “discovered” (at least from a European point of view) the southernmost tip of Africa and gave it this name. It brought hope to Europe – hope of finally establishing a maritime route for trade with the commercial centers of the east.

Contrary to Dias’ belief (and popular belief even today), the Cape of Good Hope is not the southernmost point of the African continent. That spot is actually 90 miles east (and, of course, a bit south) in Cape Agulhas. The Cape of Good Hope is the most southwestern point in Africa – located at 34° 21’ 25”S, 18° 28’ 26”E.

Technicalities aside, in the days of grand ocean voyages it was the halfway point in any journey between the East and the West. The Cape was an anchorage where fresh water could be taken on and food could be obtained by hunting or bartering with the local Khoi herders.

Of course, stopping here to “refuel” didn’t come without its perils. The Cape has also been called the “Cape of Storms” as it has become one of the world’s great maritime graveyards with over 650 wrecks over the past 400 years – some in my lifetime!  

In 1860, a lighthouse was built near the Cape of Good Hope on Cape Point. It was built at 249m above sea level. Unfortunately, the Cape Peninsula is often covered by clouds and mist and shipwrecks continued to happen when the lighthouse was obscured. In 1911, a new lighthouse was built just 87m above sea level. This second lighthouse is visible over 40 miles away and is still in use today.

If you look closely, you can see both (tiny) lighthouses)

The Cape also has the cleanest air in all of the African continent.  This is due, in part to the strong (and nearly constant) south-easterly wind (called the “Cape Doctor”) that blows all pollution away. In addition, most of the air around the cape has passed over the southwestern ocean and is unaffected by local influences.

Due to these factors, the Cape is home of one of 27 global atmosphere watch stations. These worldwide observatories work together to study atmospheric conditions and long-term chemical and physical changes.

Today the Cape is part of a National Park that includes over 19,000 acres and more than 25 miles of coastline.It isn't the most fertile land, but it's incredibly beautiful.

The park is home to over 300 baboons who terrorize tourists nowadays.

Sir Frances Drake called the Cape of Good Hope the “fairest cape in the world.” I haven’t traveled as extensively has he did, but I can see how this is a tough spot to outshine.

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Be Shark Smart

The highest concentration of great white sharks in the world is found in and around False Bay outside of Cape Town, South Africa.

On the Cape Peninsula, the first shark attack fatality was recorded in 1900 followed by another one year later. Although attacks would periodically happen in the area, in the last twenty years, the number of shark attacks in the Cape Town area has been increasing dramatically. 

However, despite more and more crowded beaches up and down the bay, since 1960 only 26 attacks have occurred (less than one every two years) and only 4 have been fatal.  Regardless, in order to take extra steps to ensure the safety of its residents and visitors, in 2004, the city of Cape Town adopted the Shark Spotters safety program.

Fifteen to twenty shark spotters are positioned on the mountains along the False Bay coastline overlooking nine of the most popular beaches with polarized sunglasses and binoculars. The spotter on the mountain is in radio contact with another spotter on the beach. If a shark is seen, the beach spotter sounds a siren and alerts swimmers to exit the water.

In addition to the siren, swimmers are always alerted to the current situation via shark flags. At all times, a shark flag is flying over the beach. The color of the flag indicates the current situation:

- a green flag indicates that spotting conditions are good and no shark has been spotted;

- a black flag indicates that spotting conditions are poor but no shark has been spotted;

- a red flag indicates that although a shark is not currently visible, one has been spotted in the past hour or two;

- a white flag indicates that a shark is currently in the water. This flag is always accompanied by the siren. 

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Da..Dum.. .Da..Dum. .. DaDum. DaDum.DaDum!

The Great White Shark. The man-eating shark. Jaws. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to see these big guys up close and personal?!?

Great white sharks are found in coastal waters in all of the world’s major oceans. Unlike many other sharks, they spend much of their time close to the surface of the water looking for prey. Their favorite meals are seals, sea lions, and often, other shark species.

The perception of the great white as a maneater started with Peter Benchley’s book Jaws (which Steven Spielberg made into a classic film!). Benchley later said that he regretted portraying the great white as a "killing machine" due to the effect it had on people’s fear of these creatures. 

Great whites will sometimes bite something unknown in an attempt to identify it. Usually, after this “test bite” on a human, they swim away uninterested. Humans are not a favorite meal of the great white – we are too bony and don’t have the fat and protein of a seal or sea lion. For this reason, over 70% of victims of an attack by a great white survive -- the shark realizes that the person isn't a seal and moves on. 

One of the densest populations of great whites is consistently found around Dyer Island, South Africa (just a few hours from Cape Town). I had to take the opportunity to see them for myself.

Critics of shark cage diving say that the sharks get used to being fed and will associate boats with food. They also say that being so close to humans in the cages will make them more accustomed to having people in their environment, especially in proximity to food. However, the tour groups don’t feed the sharks. They use chum, a mixture of fish parts and blood, which attracts sharks due to their keen sense of smell. 

However, when the sharks arrive, they don’t find food, and often move on after just a few passes by the boat. Therefore, they don’t associate chum (or the boat) with a meal. Tour operators also sometimes use parts of fish as bait for the sharks – something to move through the water to attract the shark’s attention.

However, since fish isn’t part of the diet of great white sharks, again, they aren’t finding food when they follow the movement. And, I have to add that all shark tour operators are strictly controlled by South African conservation laws.

Finally, the dollars generated by the tourist industry helps to conserve the shark population. A great white jaw can fetch up to $30,000 on the black market. However, this is a fraction of the value live sharks can bring via tourist dollars. In Gansbaai, South Africa (where we were diving) a single shark can bring in $13,000-$30,000 each day thanks to tourists on boats.

During our few hours in the bay, we saw three sharks. Two were just over 6 feet and the third was closer to 11 feet!

 

Adult great white sharks average 13-17 feet long and weigh between 1500 and 2400 pounds. However, great whites have been recorded at 21 feet weighing over 7000 pounds! Ours were smaller because mature adults aren’t as curious (they tend to avoid boats) and already know that the smell of chum won’t lead them to a tasty meal.

Once the sharks came near the boat, they weren’t that easy to spot. The water is perfectly blue and all you can see is a vague shadow which slowly takes form.

The huge form of the great white is visible for just a few seconds and then they retreat to the depths again.

Great whites are one of the few shark species that lifts their eyes above the water to check out their surroundings. This photo was taken from inside the cage – no zoom!

Some of the sharks came quite close to the cage:

But getting a photo of them underwater wasn’t easy – they’re incredibly fast!

Look at the lower right corner – you’ll see the shark’s tail fin rapidly disappearing.

Great white sharks often hunt from below. They are known to breach the surface of the ocean during high-speed attacks on seals and other unsuspecting animals. They can reach speeds of up to 40mph and launch themselves 10 feet in the air when coming from lower depths! Here’s a really poor photo of a great white breaching:

Seeing these huge, beautiful, powerful creatures up close was an incredible experience. I’m not sure I’d want to swim with them without the cage, but it seems that I likely have, many times. There are aerial photos of crowded beaches with huge sharks swimming in the depths below. They frequent the same coastal waters that we love to swim in. Something to think about next time you’re admiring the calm surface of the world’s oceans!

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