Hellooooo from Cape Town!! The pace of life here in SA hasn't slowed down a bit. Last week I went Shark Cage Diving, went to stay at a Private Game Reserve, and went to a Shabbat dinner! I survived diving with the massive great white sharks. Jen was able to get the day off work, and Steve came as well, so, including Tina (my British friend), there were 4 of us. We were collected at 6 am by a bus, and were on our way to the shark infested waters! When we finally got out to sea, there was another shark diving boat near us and we could see the shark near them and hear the people screaming! I think that scared a lot of the people on our boat, but trying to be as badass as possible I was the first one to suit up and get in the cage. I think the rest of the passengers aboard were a bit hesitant to just jump in the cage after they saw the skinny metal bars of the cage being lowered into the water (the dented bars, and large spaces between bars were not too comforting)!!!! As I floated there in the frigid, arctic-like water, ALONE in a cage I wondered what the hell had inspired me to partake in such a reckless activity. Waiting patiently for a shark to arrive, I pondered more about what I was actually doing and I was unable to think of a single logical explanation probably because there IS no real logical explanation of my decision to dive in the most shark infested waters in the world! Oh well, no time for rationalizing…A SHARK…a GREAT f***ING WHITE SHARK! It came up slowly right up to my side of the cage and as I was underwater I was in heaven (or I guess it could be considered hell for some people)! I was pretty much face to face with a REAL LIVE great white shark and found my dumbass humming the JAWS theme song in my head…GET IT TOGETHER KATE- THIS IS NOT A MOVIE! I snapped back into reality just as he swam by again and again! It was insane. The view from the top of the boat was amazing as well because we were able to see the sharks coming from afar, in contrast to those who were in the cage. When you were in the cage, you didn't even know where it was coming from or even that it was really coming, so all of a sudden you just saw a GIGANTIC shark pop up in front of your face! All in all, we saw 4 different great whites and it was one of those experiences I will never forget and will forever be thankful that I survived it! After the diving they serve lunch and alcoholic beverages (probably to calm everyone's nerves) but nobody seemed too impressed with the free drinks except for me (shocker). So I stashed a few bottles of wine in my bag (I didn't want it to go to waste J) for the 2 hour bus ride home, and let me tell you, that ride just flew by!When I got back to Obz I had about 3 hours before I was being picked up by my boss to embark on our road trip to the Eastern Cape, but instead of being responsible and coming home to pack and organize myself for the trip, I chose the alternative…I went to ROOTS sand bar to watch South Africa's first soccer game in the Africa Cup of Nations! I don't regret my decision to continue partying and disregard packing….I actually think it was a wise choice considering I slept the entire way to the game reserve! I was picked up at 9 pm, the boys drove through the night while I passed out, and I awoke at 7 am, just as we were arriving- perfect plan!

My boss Sean wants to start sending interns and running trips to this private game reserve in Adalade, South Africa. It is the most gigantic piece of property I have ever seen. Right when we got there, we settled into our rooms (I got the double bed and my own room, while all 4 boys slept in a smaller room with 2 single beds and 2 cots...I was such a princess) and then we went on a Game Drive with Nick's uncle (the owner of the park). We rode in the back of a Land Cruiser truck, which had built in bench seats. We drove all over the mountain tops and looked for wild game- it was brilliant! Later that night we had a braii and because we were on a game farm, everyone is pretty much as carnivorous as they come! My newly found vegetarianism was not thriving in this atmosphere AT ALL! We had just been looking at these animals earlier and now they were on a BBQ and I was supposed to eat it in 10 minutes…NO THANKS! But being as shy as I am around complete strangers and not wanting to offend them (or their profession for that matter), I threw a slab of bloody meat on the plate. I starred at it for a while, seriously considered sneaking it to the dog below the table, and then decided to cut it up and prod at the live animal laying on my plate so it looked like I ate it. Perfect scheme! The next morning, Nick took me out to the pond to shoot at beer cans with a real rifle…that was interesting! Then we started our trek to the waterfall. We off-roaded in Sean's truck, pulling trees out of the ground, throwing rocks aside, and cutting back bushes for 2 hours! But it was worth it once we arrived! We hiked back for another 30 minutes only to arrive at the biggest waterfall I had ever seen. And it felt as if nobody had ever been there before, it was incredible! When we got back to camp, I went through the same dinner routine! The next day, we left early and drove the long 10 hour drive home! Right when I got back, I had to shower and get dressed up because I was going to Shabbat dinner with my Aunt Tessa who was now back in town! I got lost on the way to the synagogue but spotted Jews EVERYWHERE so knew I was close enough! I met up with my Aunt, her sister, her uncle, and her cousin and we went to her other cousins house for the fanciest dinner party I have ever been to in my life. It was at a house on the cliffs overlooking the ocean with a full free bar, caterers, and the like! I was chatting with my aunt by the bar (which had the hottest bartender I have ever seen) and telling her that I didn't feel dressed up enough. I asked her if I should take off my jeans and make my shirt into a dress and the bartended -who was not at all in the conversation- interrupted and said, "I think you should take off the jeans!" Who am I to second guess a gorgeous mans opinion? I went straight to the bathroom to discard my jeans! I couldn't stay at the party long because I had another party to attend…it was Jen's 21st and we had a big party at our house for her! It was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed my Friday night until 3 am rolled around, and I was struck by violent food poisoning. I was convinced it was my last night on earth and thought I was going to die a slooooooow, PAINFUL death. I have never been so sick in my entire life. I was supposed to be at work at 8 am on Saturday morning to go diving, but there was absolutely no chance of that. I couldn't hold down water, and had a 103 degree fever! I texted my boss to inform him that I was sick, but I am sure he is convinced I was just hungover (but who couldn't blame him knowing me) and was using food poisoning as an excuse! Somehow I survived and was able to hang out with my Aunt all day yesterday. Last night we went to a fancy dinner in Seapoint at a restaurant called La Perla. We had a table for 18 people outside and it was glorious! I brought Peter with me because my Aunt promised to take him to a nice dinner if he kept me safe until she arrived in Cape Town, and he did, so she paid up! I just dropped her off at the airport a couple hours ago and wasn't too happy about it. It was really nice having someone from home here for a while!!

I have got to rest up because I am diving in the morning but I will be sure to keep you all posted. I hope you are all happy, healthy, and safe, and I miss you all!

Cheers,

Kate