My Travels through South Africa and Thailand

So, this morning I woke up well rested around 8 ready to start packing my bag and getting ready for the long drive back to Kwantu although first it was time to go swimming with seals! The place where they done this was right opposite my hostel, so I walked over there ready for 10 and checked in. They gave me flippers, wetsuit, snorkel, and mask. I put the wetsuit on and waited in the sun; I was absolutely sweltering being in the black wetsuit but thankfully they did not leave us waiting around for long. We headed off towards the beach to get in the speedboat which would take us across the water to the cliffs where the seals lived. When we got in the speedboat, everyone had to sit on the edge and put our feet in the straps provided for support and hold on to the rope; a tractor then pushed the boat into the water and instantly a big wave came crashing into the boat soaking us which felt quite refreshing in the summer heat. The boat ride was so quick and bumpy but equally fun having the wind blowing in my face, it gave me a flashback to yesterday with the wind blowing in my hair. When we arrived at the cliffs

Laura Gadsden

59 hoofdstukken

Swimming with Seals

januari 13, 2019

|

Offshore Adventures, Plettenburg Bay

So, this morning I woke up well rested around 8 ready to start packing my bag and getting ready for the long drive back to Kwantu although first it was time to go swimming with seals! The place where they done this was right opposite my hostel, so I walked over there ready for 10 and checked in. They gave me flippers, wetsuit, snorkel, and mask. I put the wetsuit on and waited in the sun; I was absolutely sweltering being in the black wetsuit but thankfully they did not leave us waiting around for long. We headed off towards the beach to get in the speedboat which would take us across the water to the cliffs where the seals lived. When we got in the speedboat, everyone had to sit on the edge and put our feet in the straps provided for support and hold on to the rope; a tractor then pushed the boat into the water and instantly a big wave came crashing into the boat soaking us which felt quite refreshing in the summer heat. The boat ride was so quick and bumpy but equally fun having the wind blowing in my face, it gave me a flashback to yesterday with the wind blowing in my hair. When we arrived at the cliffs

they were swamped with seals, the guide told us they estimate between 4500 and 5000 seals live here all year round. We pulled up not too far from the cliffs and put on our flippers and masks before all sliding into the water which smelt fishy, was quite cold on impact and tasted salty. The colour of the sea was like that in England, you couldn’t see anything beneath you so when I first stuck my head under with the snorkel on, I was amazed by how much I could see. I was surrounded by seals; to think these are wild creatures and yet they were letting me into their territory was crazy. I was not allowed to touch them although a few of them got so close to me that their flippers hit me, or their belly rubbed against me. I had a few come up to me and try to bite me although you could tell they were not trying to be aggressive just playful. As the guide described them, they are basically just underwater puppies; they were playing with each other and chasing our flippers too. I was quite surprised though how overwhelmed I felt; there were so many I struggled to breathe almost, as we were told not to reach out and touch them, I was afraid to make sudden movement or swim properly and when so many of them started swimming straight towards you that you were surrounded, I didn’t know what to do and felt kind of claustrophobic. We all clambered back into the boat and began our ride back to the shore.


Once the activity was over, I met with Katherine and Jo for brunch at La Cafeteria and I had a nice breakfast bap with a mocha smoothie. Me and Katherine also had a chance to really get to know each other and we ended up getting on like a house on fire, turned out we had a lot in common and she has even invited me to visit her when I go to Australia in a few months' time. I also returned to the market to buy them cute black and white elephant pants that I couldn’t buy on the first day here, I also got an elephant canvas painting from a local artist to hang in my room at home. The bus was due to be back from an activity at 2 to begin our drive back to the reserve so I quickly had a shower to rinse all the salt water and fishy smell out from my skin. After the shower I sat and waited, 2 came with no bus, 3 came and still no bus; eventually at 5.45 the bus arrived, so it was time to begin the long drive back to Kwantu. It is kind of crazy to think that I have come on a weekend break from a holiday.

I am now finally at Kwantu, it has just gone 11 so time to be heading to bed soon especially as some of the workers are moaning about our virtually non-existent noise. The drive was good although long

especially in the dark where you could not see any of the landscape.

Anyway, that was my day, quite a short entry compared to yesterday, so I guess it all averages out in the end.

Contact:
download from App storedownload from Google play

© 2024 Travel Diaries. All rights reserved.