Whales

I'd identified various options for today and one by one they seemed to slip away.
The first problem was that I went to bed early and my colleagues stayed out until 6.
After dinner they went to a club called "the 80's" and apparently most of the kids there were actually born in the 80's.
I'm glad I gave that one a miss.
They ended up in a casino and from all reports were taken to the cleaners.
Such a late night meant no one was moving until around 12.
They're all heading to various points in Europe and the US and are as I type flying hung over......not nice.
I just had to get out of the hotel and given that the concierge here is worse than useless, I tracked down my own last option via a "tourist" magazine. I usually avoid anything in such publications as it all tends to be pretty naff and a rip off.
I came upon a gem however.
I called "Dive Nautica", which apparently had changed its name to "36 degrees".
After establishing that we were unlikely to see anything and that all the action is in the morning, I decided to go anyway.
A boat ride- probably crap and boring but it beats an afternoon of email and work.
They usually take 4 people and charge 180 Rand each.
I was with my colleague Gareth (who also had an early night) and just said "F*ck it we'll pay 720 for the two of us"
The place was a 20 minute cab ride up the coast in Umhlanga, a suburb of Durban.
Nice setting.
I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't the little boat below. Socks and shoes left behind we climbed on board after assuring them we wouldn't be disappointed if we didn't see anything.
The route through the surf was fun.
The driver had to time our trip out between the waves rolling in.
That may not sound like much to you but it was fascinating to watch. The trip in was equally skillful.
The guy knew what he was doing.Once out on the ocean we knew this was exactly what we needed. It was warm, peaceful and the ocean air felt like a tonic.
After about 20 minutes the driver (I've forgotten his name) suggested we go look at some gannets.
They're beautiful ocean birds which don't seem to mind snap happy tourists on boats. Just as we turned towards them, Gareth let out a yell.
About 300 meters dead ahead a humpback whale breached fully out of the water.
Awe-inspiring sight.
Engines revving the chase was on.
Though the big guy didn't breach again, the sheer size of the adult male was really something to see . We got to within about 50 meters and when it dived, reappeared and disappeared again the boat began to feel really small and fragile the closer we got.
The sound of the blow-hole as it surfaced was really special, moving even.

On the way back we saw a couple more with a calf, but didn't get close enough for a decent pic.
Seeing these giants was moving for me.
Corny I know but its the god's honest truth.
How could anyone ever think of hurting them?
Shame on you Japan and Norway!!!!
That's it for today.
I'm off for a steak and bottle of decent red and will hit the sack early.
Lots of travel over the next week so stay tuned.
If you ever find yourself in Durban with a couple of hours to kill call 36 degrees at +27 (0)836591694
It's be the best way of spending £45 I can think of. The couple ( or maybe they're brother and sister?) are really nice and deserve the business.
Love to all
T