20th – 24th February 2013

We were woken the next day by monkeys playing on the roof and running along the walls outside our room at Prana Lodge. We showered in the rain and enjoyed a lazy breakfast. We packed up and never wanted to leave. We even considered blowing the budget all together and staying another night but we pulled ourselves together and hit the road late that afternoon.

We had been driving an hour before I consulted the map and realised that our next stop was several hundred miles away. We dug in for along drive and enjoyed the verdant green hills rolling by and wondered about the mud huts and the way of life out there in the mountains, we dodged sheep, goats and very young school children along roads littered with dreadful potholes.

The signs warned you of potholes for the next 73km and then at the end of that 73km was another sign, warning you of the next 200km!

We drive through main town Mthatha which was a bustling town with dust in the air and cars filled to the rafters with people. Women were carrying their groceries on their heads and the town was heavily fly posted with same day abortion notices, clearly unwanted pregnancy is a real issue. Signs offer same day for 150zar (£10 or $15) pain free and safe, we are sure however this is probably not the case.

As we drew nearer our eagerly anticipated stop the battery from the fridge started to leak and spill battery acid onto its plastic casing. It stank and we were so close but yet so far.

Definitely not fancying wild camping we pushed on through until we made it to a lovely peaceful campsite next to a river. Peaceful, easy, flanked by red rock and the mouth to the Indian Ocean…a little slice of camping heaven…we stayed a few days and enjoyed listening to the birds sing!

Our next move was a lovely drive through green luscious mountains and reminded us of Scotland or the Yorkshire dales, the only differences being the slashes of rust red soil in the never-ending green.

We ignored the battery smell as we hit the coast road and wound our way up to Scotburg where we set up camp and I wildly, randomly and more spontaneously than ever before, decided I would like to do a shark cage dive the very next day.

Before I could change my mind we called and booked it and that was it! No turning back!

I woke up grumpy and nervous, we fought with the tent which didn’t fancy going down that morning and made cheese sandwiches to take along with us (we had no idea what to expect).
We arrived and went to meet John who would be taking us out, he told us to leave our shoes in the car! We changed into our wetsuits and waited for the rest of the group.

3 young girls turned up and looked as green as me as we pushed the boat through the sand into the waves. The cage balanced on the back of the boat concertina-d and very small looking and we all jumped into the boat as the waves began to wash us out into the big bad ocean.

We held on for grim death and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a lot easier than I had anticipated, bouncing along on the Indian Ocean on the edge of a partially inflatable boat…to find some sharks!

Once we arrived at the shark spot a few semi frozen sardines were sacrificed to the crystal clear water to see what was lurking beneath us. Within seconds we saw the grey shapes slick silently below us and a few more offered us our first glimpse of the all too recognisable dorsal fins that announced the very real arrival of our swimming buddies!

John and his 2 crew pushed the cage into the water and within a minute we were watching the girls disappear into the silent water. They spluttered and giggled as they surfaced the first time, exchanged wide eyed be-goggled glances, sucked in their breath and disappeared again.

Soon enough it was our turn and we slid into the cage, filled our lungs and ducked under the surface and came immediately face to face with a 6 foot long shark.

I exploded back out of the water, so excited I had let my breath go! I sucked in more air and went back under to enjoy the spectacle!

We were surrounded by 15 to 20 sharks all at once. They eyeballed us as we eyeballed them and felt completely calm about the whole thing.

Huge fish skulked along in the wake of the sharks waiting for any scraps that might escape. Their bright colours flashed in the sudden bursts of light shooting from the surface.

Each time we went under we stayed longer and longer…wanting to stay under as long as possible each time to make the most of the extra-ordinary spectacle.

Such an amazing incredible out of this world indescribable experience and not at all scary!

I was so proud of us for just doing it. So many times I over think things and talk myself out of them before giving myself the chance to consider them properly, I will definitely by more spontaneous in the future and from now on will always say if asked…just do it!