False Bay and Cape Point, South Africa

September 2008

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The first stop on my two-month trip was Simon's Town on False Bay, just an hour south of Cape Town on the road to Cape Point itself. The main item on the agenda was the fantastic predatory behavior of the Great White Sharks with the renowned people at Apex Predators, who amongst others were involved in the BBC documentary Planet Earth, very definitely the best nature and wild-life programme of all time.

I knew going in that it was the very tail end of the shark season and I was unlikely to see the spectacular action Chris records on his website, and I also knew that at that time of the year the weather was not likely to be kind. I was right on both counts. The first day dawned with by far the best weather I would see for the trip, the waters of False Bay absolutely placid, and we set off with high hopes. We did see two sharks but from a photographic point of view it was a bit disappointing, but it was nevertheless a fantastic experience and I still had one more outing to go.

The afternoon was beautiful so I had the opportunity to go out with the only whale-watching boat in town, and what a spectacular ride it was. The winter and spring months see hundreds of the endangered Southern Right Whales arrive to breed, socialize and feed their young in the relatively warm waters. Once hunted to near extinction they (unlike their northern cousins) are starting to bounce back, with more than 7000 in the wild and an estimated annual growth rate of 7%. Their name comes from their docility, high amounts of whale blubber per whale, and the best kind of whalebone, meaning that for whalers they were the right whales to catch. Over the course of a few hours we had the privilege to see more than twenty of them up close as they cavorted not far off the beaches.

And after that it was off to the thriving African Penguin colony at Boulders Beach, a couple of minutes from downtown Simon’s Town. Once known as Jackass Penguins some scientist or catalogist must have felt sorry for them, and they have recently been rechristened. Like all penguins I have seen, they are a joy to watch as they go about their daily business, squabbling, feeding, and playing.

The next day it rained non-stop so I was shuttered up all day in my excellent little self-catering apartment provided by the excellent Avian Leisure, the co-owner of which, Patrick Cardwell, being an excellent birding and general wildlife guide. On The third day the weather was still to inclement to head out onto the Bay so he took me for a fantastic daytrip to Cape Point National Reserve and the neighbouring wetlands of Strandfontein. Most tourists upon getting into the reserve make a beeline for the Point itself, never stopping to look at the abundant wildlife. The only thing they ever see is the aggressive baboons trying to steal their food or get into their vehicles. What a mistake they make. With Patrick’s knowledgeable and patient guiding I got the opportunity to see bontebok, Grey Rehebok, peaceful families of baboons and a plethora of beautiful birds, including endemics like the Orange-breasted and Malachite Sunbirds, Levaillants Cisticola, the Cape Sugarbird and my first-ever sighting of Ostrich chicks, with their unusual camouflage colour patterns. A great day.

My last day dawned beautifully and it proved to be possibly the best, as I headed out with Apex for another shark expedition. Initially we saw little except for a few slicks where a Great White recently had taken a seal. After an hour of towing the decoy and bait (see below for a discussion) around we decided to move to another location. But as so often happens on safari, just as we prepare to leave something happens - as Chris is about to start up the boat, the cry of ‘Shark’ sprang out. The bait and decoy quickly back in the water, we had a great hour or so as the young and relatively small female (only 3.5m or so) time and again tore the bait from the line. I can well say that the adrenaline was pumping. Perhaps not the great breaching spectacles I was hoping for but fantastic nevertheless (June/July are the best times for these).

After all that excitement I headed to Cape Town for a good meal on the V&A waterfront (at Baia, one of the best seafood restaurants I have been to). To my astonishment the weather in Cape Town was as good as further south – previous to this I had never seen Table Mountain without it’s attendant clouds. This caused me to be seduced by one of the vendors hawking helicopter rides around the peninsula, who managed to find me own bird at the very last minute at sunset. What a fantastic (albeit expensive) way to finish off my first destination!!

A comment on the baiting of the Great Whites and what it means. In general, I have never been a fan of baiting as to me it can give off the odour of too much managing of wild animals and can cause them to become dependent on people. But in this case I feel differently. Why? Firstly, without such tactics it would be essentially impossible to see certain creatures, the Great White amongst them. Secondly, unlike some of the operators in nearby Gansbay, Chris and Monique of Apex are in the forefront of research and public-awareness campaigns for the Great Whites, and they know more about the sharks there than nearly anyone else. And lastly the bait sometimes taken by the sharks is nothing compared to the sustenance provided by the Cape Fur Seals at Seal Island itself.

And for those of you wondering if I cage-dived with them, unfortunately I did not as the visibility was a tiny 2m due to the storms that had been hitting the area in the last month. Chris advised me it would be much better to take shots from the boat itself, and he was definitely right, though it would have been amazing to be that close. Such heart-stopping moments would have to wait for the next week and diving with Tiger Sharks (equally dangerous) in Kwazulu Natal.

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