South Africa - Sardine Run and More...

[Hammerhead]

"Encumbent"? Fellow wordsmith? Talk about bad English. Neither of you can spell. Too funny.

You're absolutely right, and I do apologise. That is the first time I've been caught out with a misspelled word in nearly twenty years.

Can't imagine what was going through my mind that morning.

I'm andyspeptic, transmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation.

Me, getting a word wrong. Oh, the ironing

 

[Hammerhead]

I am curious in hearing the response to this so I will bump it to the top...

It's fairly accurate.

You don't actually travel with the gear on, and there's a lot of travelling as you chase the "hot spots", which are moving at a frightening rate of knots.

Having said that, it tends to be very choppy, and the rubber boats (about 20 foot long) are going at up to 30 knots, so you slip your feet into the straps and hold on to the ropes.

It is hard work, and you spend an awful lot more time on the surface as the "dives" are around 5 minutes each. In the water; catch the action; stare in wonder; action moves on as the sardines try to evade the predators intent on making them lunch; get out; gear off; race off to try and catch it all again.

The surface stuff is far more rewarding than might be expected as there are whales visible almost all the time, as well as dolphins (several species) doing their surface show.

Add that to some stunning scenery by way of backdrop and it's all peachy.

Tired at the end of the day, though...

 

[ScubaSteve]

Thanks Larry. I never really thought about all of the things you would see on the surface so I can imagine it can be somewhat rewarding as well.

 

[tridacna]

You're absolutely right, and I do apologise. That is the first time I've been caught out with a misspelled word in nearly twenty years.

Can't imagine what was going through my mind that morning.

I'm andyspeptic, transmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation.

Me, getting a word wrong. Oh, the ironing

My oh my. I assume that donning a pink wetsuit (with tassels) is an excellent marker for sesquipidalian verbosity.

I dived with the sardines five years ago. T'was fun. (My mother never slept for the entire duration of my trip). She lives in Cape Town.

 

[fairybasslet]

It's fairly accurate.

You don't actually travel with the gear on, and there's a lot of travelling as you chase the "hot spots", which are moving at a frightening rate of knots.

Having said that, it tends to be very choppy, and the rubber boats (about 20 foot long) are going at up to 30 knots, so you slip your feet into the straps and hold on to the ropes.

It is hard work, and you spend an awful lot more time on the surface as the "dives" are around 5 minutes each. In the water; catch the action; stare in wonder; action moves on as the sardines try to evade the predators intent on making them lunch; get out; gear off; race off to try and catch it all again.

The surface stuff is far more rewarding than might be expected as there are whales visible almost all the time, as well as dolphins (several species) doing their surface show.

Add that to some stunning scenery by way of backdrop and it's all peachy.

Tired at the end of the day, though...

Sounds more exhausting than Galapagos. My first dive at Wolf I kept saying to myself, "What the F** am I doing here?"

 

[Hammerhead]

Sounds more exhausting than Galapagos. My first dive at Wolf I kept saying to myself, "What the F** am I doing here?"

You're right there - you actually do need to be in reasonable shape, and capable of hauling yourself out of the water without assistance up the side of a rubber duck dinghy.

Not that easy with gear still on, as I found out

If you really need assistance, you'll get it, but being reasonbly self-sufficient means that you'll gain more friends

@ tridacna, I was really hoping that you'd bite on the "Oh, the ironing" comment . The pink wetsuit was in fact, leggings and "armings" (we wordsmiths are permitted to invent words, you see), as well as a matching hat, which I "liberated" from a dancing bar in Manila.

 

[tridacna]

@ tridacna, I was really hoping that you'd bite on the "Oh, the ironing" comment . The pink wetsuit was in fact, leggings and "armings" (we wordsmiths are permitted to invent words, you see), as well as a matching hat, which I "liberated" from a dancing bar in Manila.

OK. I'll bite.

What dance was the bar performing? It must have been quite a spec-tickle!

 

[Hammerhead]

The dancing was - let me think - "freestyle".

There was also no nudity / topless ladies.

Basically, it's a large bar with pretty girls dancing in bikinis.

 

[Hammerhead]

Should you ever make it that way, the place in question was the Cotton Club, EDSA International Entertainment Centre (opposite the Heritage Hotel in Pasay, Manila).

Not bad, not bad at all.

 

[Hammerhead]

Something funny going on here - trying to edit and it just goes to a new post...


...hmmm.