Paul, Mark and Thirnan´s World Tour: Capetown, South Africa

We got back to jo'burg and hopped a plane to Capetown. Capetown's pretty much the Vancouver of South Africa - gorgeous, has a mountain, an ocean and ample panhandlers. After taking the first night off, we got up early (10 o'clock) to hike Table mountain, which sits in the middle of the city. It was time to find out if our hiking endurance built in patagonia stuck around through beers, car-rides and beaches. it didn't.

Table mountain has a cool cloud blanket that sits on top and rolls off.

About an hour after starting we cut up through this crevace to hit the top.

shifting pockets of cloud on top of the mountain...

thankfully the cloud isn't all-encompasing, giving a solid view and a chance to get back to our cliffs and back-of-the-head pics.

Next on the to do list - shark dive. We got many disclaimers on the way out that we may not see any sharks due to the low season. this may be to make you feel lucky when you do. we saw 3. The break-down was this: cage attached to the side of the boat, 35 people on the boat, 6 people fit in the cage, head just out of water. To ensure good sightings, they dump "chum" in the water to attract the sharks. They also toss a massive chunk of tuna on a line 10 feet out from the cage. when the shark shows up they yell "down!", you duck your head under and get friendly with jaws. should the shark go for the chunck of tuna, they pull the bait in towards the cage. After a couple good underwater sightings, switch up divers in the cage.

Paul and Thirnan are sporting REEF anti-shark wetsuits; colours: midnight black, that is all; sizes: XL and XXL.

Envigorated by their new attire, Paul and T threw caution to the wind and jumped in the cage first.. I stayed back to observe the best strategy for shark viewing. The first session in the cage was a good one; shark cruised right up and bumped the cage, T swears it looked at him, and that it blinked first.

The wine tour. We booked seats on a bus through the hostel. After the bus was an hour late we called the company to inquire. They said the bus broke down and should arrive soon. Another hour later the answer was that the bus was in an accident, and should arrive. Still later, we were informed the driver was needed in court and could not conduct the tour.. makes sense.

The hostel was good enough to get us another bus last minute. Wine country by Capetown's in a region called Stellenbosh. We hit 4 wineries, 5 free glasses at each winery, white AND reds, I like the reds, good tanons.