AFRICAN SHARK ECO-CHARTERS Blog

Great White Shark Action

2012-02-06T16:07:00.000+02:00

Check out this cool video taken by Clark Fullerton during a trip with us last year - some great footage captured by him.

This video gives you a taste of what you could see on one of African Shark Eco-Charter's breaching and cage diving trips. Join Rob Lawrence and the African Shark Eco-Charters team on one of our popular morning "Airjaws" trips and get up close and personal with the Great White Shark.

Thanks for the video Clarke! SAVE THE SHARK!

10 Things you didn't know about the Great White Shark

2012-01-25T16:34:00.001+02:00

Known as one of the ocean's greatest predators, the Great White Shark has grown to become quite a hit amongst travellers and tourists through shark cage diving. If you are thinking about going shark cage diving then you will find the following facts about the Great White Shark quite interesting.

1. The largest Great White Shark ever recorded was caught off Cojimar, Cuba and measured 6.4 m (21 feet) and roughly 3,312 kg (7,302 pounds). The average size of a Great White Shark is between 3.5 - 4.6 m.

2. Although the Great White Shark can reach lengths of up to 6m, it is not the largest shark in the ocean, but it is the biggest predatory shark.

3. They have six senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing and electro-reception.

Image: Rob Lawrence

4. Great White Sharks are sensitive to low frequency sounds as produced by struggling prey.

5. They don't have eyelids, but instead roll their eyes back to protect them.

6. Similar to a whale, Great White Sharks will often stick their heads out of the water to inspect their prey. This is known as spy-hopping.

7. Great White Sharks can breach out the water over 2 m into the air.

8. Great White Sharks grow very slowly and only become sexually mature around 8 - 10 years (males) and 14 - 16 years (females).

Image: Rob Lawrence

9. They are one of the most widely distributed sharks and are found in all oceans, except the polar seas.

10. After birth, Great White Shark pups receive no parental care and are left to fend for themselves.

African Shark Eco-Charters specialize in Great White Shark cage diving and breaching trips. Our trips head out to Seal Island, False Bay which is the home of the "flying" Great White Sharks. Join us on one of our Great White Shark cage diving and breaching trips and witness these spectacular apex predators up close and personally.

Gay Friendly Shark Cage Diving

2012-01-17T11:31:00.000+02:00

Gay-friendly Shark Cage Diving with African Shark Eco-Charters

Regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Cape Town has been voted as one of the top 5 gay travel destinations, and is considered the most gay-friendly city in South Africa.

Rob and Karen Lawrence extend a warm invite to members of the gay community to come and experience Great White Shark cage diving and breaching with African Shark Eco-Charters. We are a gay-friendly company and we are aware of the needs of gay travellers.

Our shark trips depart from Simon's Town, only 40 minutes from Cape Town, and offers insight into the predation and breaching behaviour of the Great White Shark. We are an eco-sensitive shark cage diving company that has been accredited with 'Fair Trade in Tourism', so guests can be assured that their cage diving experience is managed in an ethical and socially responsible manner. We only take only 8-12 guests on the boat so you can enjoy a comfortable trip in a more personal and exclusive environment.

The Great White Shark plays an important role in the preservation of the marine ecosystem, and African Shark Eco-Charters aims to educate guests about these misunderstood apex predators.

Packages include:
- All necessary scuba gear and equipment.
- Drinks and snacks served on board the boat.
- Transfers to and from your accommodation. This service is an optional extra and will be added to the cost of the tour.

This is certainly a trip that is not to be missed if you are in Cape Town, and you can be rest assured that you will be made to feel welcome and completely at ease on our shark cage diving and breaching expeditions.

White Sharks: Magnificent, Mysterious & Misunderstood

2012-01-05T16:18:00.000+02:00

The Great White Shark is one of the most feared and misunderstood animals in the world, yet its mysterious nature and behaviour constantly draw people to it. White Sharks, Dirk Schmidt's sequel to his first book, Great Whites of False Bay, offers a rare insight into the unique behaviour of this awesome apex predator, the Great White Shark. Dirk Schmidt has captured some truly amazing images of the natural predatory events and explosive breaching activity that occurs off Seal Island, False Bay.

Purchase your copy of White Sharks though African Shark Eco-Charters.

Book Synopsis:

There are few species that strike such fear into humans as the Great White shark. And yet this fearsome predator is also greatly threatened by human activity. Moreover, its seemingly random attacks can be shown to follow quite definite and understandable patterns of behaviour. Based on years of observing and studying Great White Sharks, White Sharks is an original contribution towards understanding the behaviour and habits of this much-feared and greatly misunderstood species.

Illustrated throughout with magnificent images of Great White sharks, often in spectacular aerial breaches, this book is essential reading for anyone who is concerned about the health of our marine environment and understanding Great White shark behaviour.

Reviews:

‘I have spent many days at sea with Dirk photographing Great Whites. His fascination for this magnificent predator, coupled with his dedication and hard work, have produced a truly amazing book!’

Michael Zoghzoghi – author and photographer

‘A magnificent achievement that does justice to this most majestic of species of our planet.’

Julian Cox – wildlife photographer

‘This is an amazing book hat encapsulates so many aspects of Great White behaviour and portrays these sharks as the awesome creatures they really are.’

Kim Maclean – Sharklady Adventures

‘Fresh, informative and educational with great images, Dirk Schmidt’s sequel to his first book, The Great Whites of False Bay, is a positive book that will have you wanting to see them up close and personal.’

Rob Lawrence – African shark Eco-Charters

R275.00 ¨ 978-1-920289-50-8 ¨ September 2011 ¨ HB ¨ 210mm x 285mm ¨ 208 pages

World rights ¨ Category: Wildlife

What’s so great about the Great White Shark?

2011-12-18T16:39:00.002+02:00

There’s something very special about the Great White Shark. Over 400 species of sharks are known to Science. Each and every one of them is fascinating in its own special way. Yet in the public’s imagination, only one shark species looms larger than all the others combined…..The Great White!

The Great White is a veritable ‘superstar’ among sharks. It has come to represent the very epitome of sharkiness and is the ‘hands-down’ favorite of virtually every shark enthusiast.

What makes the Great White Shark ‘Great’? I think it comes down to a combination of 4 qualities:

• It is a very large animal, growing more to more than 20 feet (6 metres) in length and 2 tons in mass. We humans are intrinsically awed by sheer size and a full-grown Great White is certainly an impressive animal.

• The Great White is dangerous, having killed or injured more people than any other shark species. We are strangely yet powerfully drawn to frightening things, as though we cannot resist getting pretty close to things that can harm us.

• It is s particularly “pretty shark’ – featuring prominent dark eyes, an appealing clown-like grin, clean and elegant lines and striking contrast between the dark upper and white lower coloration. It also moves with a smooth, hypnotic grace that many of us admire and even envy.

• The Great White is mysterious, going about its secret life in alien, liquid universe our senses can barely penetrate.

Any one of these qualities is sufficient to make a creature to stand out in awareness. But the highly unusual combination of all four of them renders The Great White so fascinating as to be almost irresistible!

Now ask yourself….what’s so great about the Great White Sharks of False Bay? Let me tell you….

Located at the head of False Bay, is the beautiful yet picturesque island called Seal Island. It is home to more than 30, 000 Cape Fur Seals and the population swells to over twice that in the breeding season. During the winter months, a steady stream of Great Whites enter the vicinity of the Island to prey on the seals for a few days, after which they move on for parts unknown?

During the season, or any given morning, you can see a dozen or more natural predatory dramas, the sharks often breaching completely out of the water in pursuit of the agile seals. After the predations, baiting can lure in a multiple of sharks at a time.

In my opinion, this is simply the BEST place on earth to see lots of Great Whites doing what they do best!

© Rob Lawrence

This photo was taken by Rob Lawrence just off Seal Island in False Bay. A Great White Shark launches itself completely out of the water in pursuit of a seal decoy. Towed decoys make it easier to photograph this spectacular aerial acrobatics of the famous ‘Flying Great Whites' of False Bay’.

"Common Dolphins seen on Great White Shark trips"

2011-12-16T16:56:00.001+02:00

What are Common Dolphins?
Common dolphins are frequently seen on our Great White Shark trips and are widely distributed in the offshore waters along the entire coast of South Africa. There are two species of common dolphin, the long-beaked and shot-beaked common dolphin. The main species that we see on our trips is the long-beaked common dolphin.

©Rob Lawrence

Physical Description & Amp; Colour

Common dolphins can easily be identified by their bright, colour-contrasting patters. The sides are light grey in colour behind the dorsal fin, and a yellowish-tan colour in front of the dorsal fin, which creates their distinct hourglass pattern. The back is dark grey-to-black in colour, stretching from the top of the head to the tail, and dipping to a V on the sides below the dorsal fin. The belly is white in colour. Common Dolphins have slender but solid bodies, with a long beak and a pointed triangular-shaped dorsal fin located in the middle of the back.

Length & Weight

Common dolphins are relatively small dolphins that can reach lengths of 1.9 and 2.6 metres, and weigh between 80 kg and 235 kg. At similar ages, the males are slightly larger than the females.

©Rob Lawrence

Distribution
Common dolphins are found in all tropical and warm-temperate waters. The long-beaked common dolphin, which is the species that we often see, is found in more coastal waters; and the short-beaked common dolphin is mainly found in offshore waters.

Mating & Breeding
Common dolphins normally reach sexual maturity between 3 to 4 years of age, or when they reach 1.8 to 2.1 metres in length. Females normally give birth to a single calf after a 10 to 11 month gestation period. The calves are normally around 76 to 86 cm in length at birth, and weigh around 10 kg.

©Rob Lawrence

Diet
Common dolphins are active predators and their diet mainly consists of squid and small schooling fish, such as anchovies, sardines and pilchards. Small groups of common dolphins may work together to heard schools of prey, and they are often associated with diving birds and feeding whales.

Social Characteristics
Common dolphins are usually found in large social groups of between 100 and 500 animals, but have occasionally been seen in larger groups of thousands of individuals. They are fast swimmers and are often seen breaching and porpoising out of the water. They will also often approach ships to "bowride" for long periods of time.

Cape Fur Seals wash up on beaches in Cape Town

2011-12-09T16:05:00.000+02:00

An estimated 300 baby Cape Fur Seals have washed up on Kommetjie beach today, with another 20 on Fish Hoek beach, and roughly 100 more along Baden Powell Drive between Sunrise Circle and Strandfontein Pavillion. At the moment, the carcasses are being removed from the beaches by the City of Cape Town's Cleansing Department for health and safety reasons.

Cape Fur Seals playing in the waters around Seal Island. © Rob Lawrence

It is not unusual for Cape Fur Seals to wash up on the beaches at this time of year, especially with the strong south-easter winds and big swells we have been experiencing recently. The high numbers of Cape Fur Seals that have washed up now is slightly concerning though, especially in Kommetjie.

December/January is the breeding season for the Cape Fur Seals. Because of the limited space and overcrowding on Seal Island, and also due to the fact that they are blind at birth and can't swim, it is normally the Cape Fur Seal pups that drown and get washed up onto our beaches after days of strong winds and high seas.

Cape Fur Seal © Brandon Kilbride

Quite often, a number of adult Cape Fur Seals will also wash up on our beaches during this time of year. There are many disturbances that erupt on Seal Island during these months as a result of the stress on the males and females from the breeding, and because of the stampedes caused by males fighting with each other to maintain their territory. All these disturbances take a toll on the adult Cape Fur Seals.

Great White Sharks are great scavengers and will often take advantage of these situations to feed on the dead seals that get washed off Seal Island.

Great White scavenging on Cape Fur Seal. © Brandon Kilbride

I spy a Great White Shark

2011-12-06T16:17:00.000+02:00

Great White Sharks have incredible, well-developed senses which allow them to navigate their underwater world. These senses make the Great White Shark a fearsome predator in our oceans.

In spite of their other highly-developed senses, Great WhiteSharks rely mostly on their sense of sight for hunting. The Great White Shark is the only shark known to regularly lift its head above the water to investigate its surroundings. This behaviour is known as 'spy-hopping' and allows the Great White Shark to look for prey, such as the Cape Fur Seal (and at the tourists on our boat!).

Peek-a-boo! The incredible 'spy-hopping' behaviour of the Great White Shark. © Rob Lawrence

Great White Sharks are incredibly cautious and do not just strike at an unknown object. Instead, they will take time to determine what the object is before having a taste.

We often see Great White Sharks 'spy-hopping' on many of our breaching and cage diving trips. Join us on a Great White Shark trip and experience the thrill of looking into the eyes of this magnificent apex predator.

Great White Sharks Have Ears!?

2011-12-05T16:39:00.001+02:00

Great White Sharks, as well as other sharks, don't have obvious ears like most animals. Instead, they have two openings located close together on the top of its head that leads to their inner ears.

Each ear consists of a pair of sac-like structures, to which three canals are attached. Inside each canal are sensory maculae (the sacculus, the lagena and the utriculus), which are responsible for both balance and sound perception. These parts are lined with tiny hairs that help the shark detect vibrations in the water. This arrangement also provides the Great White Shark with continuous information on its acceleration and the orientation of its body.

Image: HowStuffWorks

The vibrations that the shark is trying to pick up include splashing and the sounds of an injured prey, both which create different sound frequencies. Sound is often a Great White Shark's first tip-off that prey is nearby. Because sound travels more efficiently and faster through water, GreatWhite Sharks are easily able to detect their prey from great distances away, even more than 243 meters away (800 feet).

A specialized region of the ear mechanism, called the "macula neglecta”, allows the Great White Shark to determine the direction of the underwater sound sources.

Image: RAM

Another way that Great White Sharks are able to detect vibrations is with its "lateral line". The "lateral line" is a row of sensitive vibration detectors that run along each of its flanks. This allows the Great White Sharks to 'feel' the direction of vibrations from struggling or injured animals that might make easy prey.

During our Great White Shark breaching and cage diving trips we will often tap on the side of the boat to attract the Great Whites to the boat. Some of our guests find this very strange, but it has proven very effective.

Great White Shark Fin-printing

2011-12-02T16:11:00.001+02:00

Great White Sharks can be individually identified by the unique markings, shapes and patterns on their dorsal fins, much like humans can be identified by their fingerprints. For years, scientists have been building up a collection of photographs of Great White Shark dorsal fins, and using them to identify individual Great White Sharks.

Photo: Michael Scholl / Barcroft

Swiss marine biologist, and founder and director of the White Shark Trust, Michael Scholl, has collected over 1,500 dorsal fin photos over the last ten years. His photos will serve as the basis for a new computer program that is in the process of being developed, which will catalogue the dorsal fin photos and automatically identify individual Great White Sharks based on their unique features of their dorsal fins. This shark fin database and computer program technology will be similar to the one used to identify criminals by their fingerprints.

Photo: Rob Lawrence

Scientists believe that this creative approach will be able to assist international shark groups in recognising and tracking individual Great White Sharks, which will in turn provide them with a better insight into their behaviours and how to protect them. Scientists will be able to use this fin-printing identification system to hopefully lead researchers to observations of Great White Shark behaviours that have never been witnessed before, such as mating and birthing.

Photo: Rob Lawrence

Not only will a worldwide network of researchers be able to benefit from this ground-breaking technology, but fisherman, hobby photographers and even tourists will be able to access the database online and identify the Great White Sharks in their photos.

Photo: Brandon Kilbride

How cool would it be to take a picture of the Great Whites Sharks you see on your breaching and cage diving trips with African SharkEco-Charters, and then consult the fin-printing database to find out more about the individual sharks that you saw, and where else they have been spotted?

Photo: Rob Lawrence

Update:

Here is a cool video from one of our guests, Jay Walker, which shows Rob teaching the guests on the boat how to identify the sharks we see on our trips. Thanks for the video, Jay!

Great White Shark activity around Seal Island, False Bay

2011-11-30T16:24:00.000+02:00

Seal Island is a small, elongated rocky islet (essentially a huge granite rock) situated roughly 5,7 km offshore in the northern part of False Bay. It is home to roughly 60,000 Cape Fur Seals, as well as a many bird species including African Penguins, Kelp Gulls, Sub-Antarctic Skuas, Cape Cormorants and White-breasted Cormorants. The offshore waters surrounding Seal Island are inhabited by a number of whales, porpoises and sharks, including Bryde's Whales, Southern Right Whales, Common Dolphins, Dusky Dolphins and the Great White Shark.

Image: http://www.artphototravel.net

A radio mast, built on the Island during World War II, was a noticeable landmark in the Bay until it was blown over in a winter storm in 1970. All that remains of this is some rusty, twisted metal. There are also ruins of some huts and a few structures from the seal and guano-collection era, which ceased in 1949.

The water temperature around Seal Island varies little throughout the year, hovering between 13° and 14° C at the surface, and a degree or so cooler at the bottom where the depth is 20 m. From May through September, the predominant winds at Seal Island are north-westerly, changing to south-easterly from October through April.

Image: Rob Lawrence

In order to keep a better record of where the Great White Shark activity and predation takes place, we have divided Seal Island into 6 sectors (see image below).

The majority of the breaching and predation activity of the Great White Shark happens in sectors 3 and 4, although predation activity can and does happen in all the sectors around the Island. This is the route that the Cape Fur Seals generally depart from and return to the Island, and thus most of the early morning predation activity takes place in these sectors.

Image: Dirk Schmidt

An area known as the "launch pad", a shallow reef at the southern end of Seal Island, is where the Cape Fur Seals gather to form groups before they depart the Island to feed, which we will point out to you during our Great White Shark cage diving and breaching trips. We will anchor up for the cage diving in the calmest area or where the best conditions are for that day.

Join us on our early morning "Airjaws" trip to witness the spectacular breaching and predation activity of the Great White Shark, and get up close and personal with them in the cage.

Concerns over chumming to attract Great White Sharks?

2011-11-21T11:46:00.000+02:00

What is chumming? Chumming is a type of scent trail that that attracts fish, sharks, etc, to an area, or boat. It may be man made or natural.
An example of a natural scent trail is a

seal colony,
bird colony,
a dead whale or
seal carcass even dead birds.

An example of a man made scent trail would be for an example, fisherman using mashed up anchovies/pilchards with marine oil and salt water to attract fish and or small shark species to the boat in order to catch them. Another chum would be small cut pieces of sardines dropped off the boat to get shoaling fish like yellowtail or tuna up to the surface to make catching them more successful. The chum may vary depending on what type of fish the fisherman wants to attract. Another good example of a man made scent trail created when fish are cleaned on a daily basis at a fishing harbour or beach and boats pumping there bulges.

What about shark operators and chumming? The operators do chum. ALL of them, but the aim is to attract the sharks NOT for them to eat the bait. The operators have a bait line and use mashed fish with water as an attractant. This is scooped into the sea to attract sharks as a scent attractant. Sharks don’t eat this.
Operators do not want sharks to eat their bait. Firstly bait is very expensive and secondly you want to draw the sharks slowly in with the bait line to the guests in the cage so the shark swims past the cage. They do not want to feed them and have the shark swim away.

Here at African Shark Eco-Charters, we put sharks first, and each of our tours operates in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Up until a short while ago most operators still used shark livers to lure sharks to the boats. This is thankfully been stopped and is now an illegal practice! ASEC has always been opposed to killing sharks to attract sharks.

Although we do make use of a tuna head to attract the sharks closer to the boat for cage diving, we find that the shark decoy works very well.Our decoy is eco-friendly and shark friendly, being made out of compressed foam, and or carpet' which is cut out into the shape of a seal and is not made of any hard material that may injury the shark. The use of a decoy also means that we can reduce the use of bait when on anchor. Great white sharks are highly curious animals and will often inspect and be far more interested in the decoy than the "bait line". This gives us the opportunity of educating our guest at greater length about the behaviour of these sharks. Our AIRJAWS trips are aimed on natural predation observation, and this is a wonderful trip to observe great white sharks " in the wild" hunting. Here at Seal Island the prey is the Cape Fur seals.

On all our trips, ASEC offers the smallest group size for cage diving and viewing, as we really want you to have a more personal trip and our guests are more than just a "number". This personal attention is what makes African Shark Eco-Charters so extremely popular.

Join us for a memorable shark cage diving or AIRJAWS trip.

History Of The "Flying" Great Whites Of False Bay

2011-11-17T16:10:00.000+02:00

Rob Lawrence has been working with great white sharks since 1992 and has become an expert on them and their predation behaviour. Here is Rob's story:

I was born and raised in Cape Town. The ocean is deeply entrenched in my family who have a long standing history in False Bay as trek fisherman (beach net fishing) dating back to the late 1800’s.

I started as a volunteer in 1992 with the White Shark Research Project in Gansbaai before moving to False Bay where in 1996, we discovered the unique breaching behaviour of the great white shark. A friend and I took a small inflatable boat to Seal Island to look for sharks. We decided to tow a life jacket behind the boat. It was here when we saw our very first great white shark breach. I was totally “blown away”, by what I saw.

Image: Rob Lawrence

It was then when I knew I wanted to spend as much time as possible at Seal Island. I started working two jobs and when enough money was saved, bought a boat and my friend and I began a company, which I still own and run called African Shark Eco-Charters, and we started taking guests to see these magnificent animals.

The breaching behaviour of the great white shark is rare, and until the mid-1990’s no footage or images of a breach had been captured, until 1998, when a film crew captured the very first decoy-towed breach with AfricanShark Eco-Charters.

Seal Island, False Bay is the best place in the world to witness natural predation of the great white sharks on Cape Fur Seals. Great white sharks do breach at other shark spots around the world but what makes False Bay so special is that the intensity and frequency of this behaviour can be seen here more often than any other shark spot in the world.

Image: Rob Lawrence

Breaching is one of the hunting techniques that great white sharks use to surprise and kill its prey. What is important to the hunt is the prey size; the great whites will try and catch the young smaller inexperienced cape fur seals. The best time is sunrise and sunset and mainly at certain area’s around the island, and only for a few months of the year. Factors affecting breaching include sunlight, water visibility, and seal movement (seals have anti-predation tactics; if they move in groups they have a better chance of leaving and returning to the island). The water visibility around Seal Island is only around 5-8 metres on average so the seals have very little time to see the sharks when an attack happens. Seals are mammals and need to come to the surface to breath and that’s when the great white shark looks to strike.

Image: Rob Lawrence

The predation and breaching behaviour around Seal Island, False Bay is one of the most spectacular wildlife events in the world with one of the last great super predators.

There are over 400 species of sharks but the great white shark is the most feared of them all. Yet, we are drawn to it; it is the one everybody knows. It is mysterious and hard to find; even though it occurs in many oceans the areas that you can realistically find it is rare, and even at those hotspots sightings are not guaranteed.

Join us on an "Airjaws" trip to witness this spectacular breaching and predation activity of the great white shark.

Image: Rob Lawrence

Less than 1% of shark species protected

2011-11-16T16:16:00.000+02:00

According to a report from the Oceana conservation group, only a tiny fraction - less than 1% - of shark species in the Atlantic Ocean are under protection, even though most shark species are heading towards extinction. Officials from 48 Atlantic fishing countries are meeting in Istanbul this week to try to protect bluefin tuna, swordfish and other large fish, but existing conservation efforts are only saving a tiny portion of sharks.

The report stated that three quarters of the wide ranging shark species now being caught in the Atlantic are under threat. Conservation groups at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) meeting are pushing for a ban on the catch of shark species that are extreme risk, including the porbeagle and silky shark, as well as catch limits on other species such as the shortfin mako and blue sharks.

Image: Blue Shark © Geoff Spiby

ICCAT countries to date have only limited protection for specific shark species such as the great white, bigeye thresher, hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks. At the moment there are no limits on the fishing of 15 Atlantic shark species, even though some are close to extinction.

Atlantic fishing countries reported catching more than 68 000 tonnes of shark in 2009, which is roughly more than 1.3 million animals. Populations of some species have fallen by 99% since the middle of last century.

For the full report you can visit Mail & Guardian.

Great white and Cape Fur Seal at Dawn

2011-11-16T10:54:00.002+02:00

Here is a beautiful picture taken by our dive master Brandon Kilbride on our trip. Join us at African Shark Eco-Charters for an AIRJAWS trip and get to witness this amazing rare hunting behaviour for yourself.

Remember with all wildlife, there are no guarantee's, so rather come hopeful, than expectant.

Three Cheers For Table Mountain!!!

2011-11-15T16:46:00.000+02:00

The 11th of November 2011 was a momentous day for South Africans, when our beloved Table Mountain was provisionally named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. After a four-year global campaign, the seven finalists were announced by the Swiss-based New7Wonders Foundation shortly after 9pm South African time.

Image: toursholic.com

The seven provisional winners based on the first count of vote results, in alphabetical order, are:

Amazon in South America
Halong Bay in Vietnam
Iguazu Falls bordering Argentina and Brazil
Jeju Island in South Korea
Komodo in Indonesia
Puerto Princesa Underground River in the Philippines
Table Mountain, South Africa

According to the New7Wonders Foundation, the voting calculations are now being checked, validated and independently verified, and the confirmed winners will be announced starting early 2012 during the Official Inauguration ceremonies. There is a possibility that there will be changes between the announced provisional winners and the eventual finally confirmed winners, but we have high hopes for our Table mountain.

This achievement will result in a boost in tourism and international visitors for South Africa.

After your Great White Shark cage diving and breaching trip with African Shark Eco-Charters, why not enjoy a hike or cable care ride up Table Mountain.

Top 5 Wildlife Adventure Tour Experiences in Africa

2011-11-15T13:39:00.001+02:00

Blog credit: Dalene Ingham-Brown

If you’re set on getting prime wildlife viewing into your adventure tour in Africa, then we have just the activities for you. From gorilla trekking to swimming with whale sharks, your adventure tour in Africa is a mere click and book away. I’m excited for you.

Wildlife to experience on an Adventure Tour

1. Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

This trip is an adventure and a half. Gorilla’s know no boundaries often Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda means having to drop into a neighbouring country to track down a glimpse of these amazing creatures.

The track will get you a glimpse of these brilliant wildlife 99% of the time. The professional and experienced park ranger does not unfortunately employ the gorillas which means they are entitled to meander the country as they please. This is an adventure tour not many get to experience; gorilla trekking is a fantastic way to get to see these rare animals in their natural habitat. A life changing experience indeed.