Ruben bloggar frå turar, innland og utland: Memories

Thursday 4/7-13

Memories
It’s been exactly 5 weeks since I departed London Heathrow, and I only got 4 days left in South Africa. It’s time to look back.

First, I must say the time has flown by; it has gone so quick that it’s hard to believe. First day, when I spent a day in Cairo seems like yesterday, but at the same time I’ve experienced so much!

3 hikes up Table Mountain, road trip alone, Blaokrands Bridge, Outshoorn, guided through caves, road trip with my 3 American friends, Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, shark diving, whale watching, Bad Girls, FOH work, penguins, workouts with Lauren, Cape Aghulas, pool tournament, partying, Picasso, Midsummer night, the shark presentation, Sissels surprise visit, predation of seals, research trip with Alison, Nicolas butt slapping, the Marine evening, dinners at GWH, Taphouse (is it spelled right?) the early walks to work, the sick bags which needs to be carried, the crew on the boat, the date with Klara… and so on. It’s been so much, and I wish I had pictures/videos of everything. It’s going to be hard to leave all of this, but as always, we all move on, and there is a bright future with more great moments ahead. I truly going to miss these 5 weeks, and I wish I could stay for longer, but at the same time, I feel the time is right to move on.

I must say a big thank you to Marine Dynamics who have given me the opportunity to work with them, learn from them and experience great moments with them! It was quite random I applied for their volunteer program about 9 months ago. The other volunteers here has been amazing as well. I’ve got friends for life, and thanks to technology (Facebook) we will keep in touch, and most likely meet again. I’ve also met so many clients on the shark trips, and they have all been great people who are travelling from all over the world to see the Great White Shark. I’ve even met Norwegians and “local” English (from Reading) on the boat. The best moments on Slashfin (our shark cage dive boat) must be when a shark gets really close to the cage, (and maybe bumps into it) and the reaction from the people in the cage. They usually jump up and give each other high fives while they are cheering. It’s awesome to watch! But there is always a downside as well, like when people are coming all this way, paying all this money, and then get so seasick that they can’t dive, or even look at the sharks. They just want to get back to shore. I must admit I always feel for them, and I hope they all get another chance to see sharks from a cage.

Today is Independence Day in America, and I want to congratulate all the Americans (especially Jake, Lauren and Anna)

Big surprise will come late this week or beginning of next week. Keep posted.