Happy New Year and wishing you only the best for 2021!

We wish you a wonderful year ahead and may it be better than the last one! Together we can do this and make it happen. Ilanga Travel is not standing still, and Anne has been exploring the Whale Coast for us!

A weekend away with Aire Del Mar Guesthouse and Marine Dynamics

On the outskirts of Gansbaai, towards Franskraal, lies Aire Del Mar, a small, simple guesthouse with a kind heart.

https://www.airedelmar.co.za/index.html

The guesthouse has 5 rooms on the top floor. One of these is a family room, which can sleep a family of 4 (children under 18 sharing). On the ground floor there are 3 self-catering rooms.

The guesthouse is in a quiet road, and is higher than the properties on the other side of the road, so one has good ocean views from the rooms on the top floor, each of which has a small balcony.

The 3 rooms on the ground floor open on to the guesthouse parking lot, which is not fenced in and is open to the road.

The guesthouse is newly renovated, and the owners have plans of adding a larger breakfast room and a downstairs lounge. This guesthouse offers a delicious breakfast and a peaceful night’s sleep, listening to the sounds of the ocean.

For breakfast, you fill out a little pre-order form the night before and the food is then freshly prepared for you, as you arrive at breakfast.

The guesthouse has very friendly and attentive staff with extensive knowledge of the surrounding area and they are more than helpful in organizing activities and restaurant bookings for you.

For us they organized a wonderful, adventurous shark cage diving with Marine Dynamics Shark Tours.

This amazing company, together with Dyer Island Cruises (the Marine Big 5 Boat Trip operator) are primary partners for the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, founded back in 2006.

Their motto: Discover, Protect, Educate.

Their main focus is presently the African Penguin -, if we do not change our ways, they will be extinct in the wild by 2030. Please see the following website for more information:

https://dict.org.za/dict-projects/african-penguin-seabird-sanctuary/

Marine Dynamics supplies wetsuits, lifejackets, wind jackets, diving masks and a towel for each of their passengers and a marine biologist accompanies each boat and answers every question you could think of about the environment you are exploring.

The Sharks are attracted to the boat, by using the method of chumming, but this is an oil based, fish flavoured mixture only. It is not enough to feed or excite the shark itself, but does lure them in to come and explore what is happening, as by nature, the shark is very curious.

The staff gives clear instructions as to what to do and how to behave. Each step is explained and double checked, from putting on the life jackets to climbing into the cage itself.

We were not visited by a Great White shark itself, as they have become scarce in the last couple of months. This is thought to be due to the presence of a small pod of orcas which have specialised in hunting the Great White sharks, but that did not take anything away from the experience at all.

A shiver (group) of about 10 Copper Sharks did come to visit. These are also known as Bronze Whalers and simply put, the experience of being so close to such truly beautiful creatures is just too amazing for words.

One of the crew takes pictures/ video (which is available for purchase) and we even featured in the blog:

https://www.sharkwatchsa.com/en/blog

I would highly recommend supporting this wonderful company as it is a most memorable experience. We had the best time and it was very difficult to say good bye to the sharks and climb out of the cage, so that the crew could turn the boat around and return to the port.

https://www.sharkwatchsa.com/en/home/

On the downside – since 29.12.2020 South Africa is back on Lock Down Level 3 until 15.01.2021 – the following restrictions apply:

• Curfew starts at 9pm and lasts until 6am
• Sale and transport of alcohol is prohibited including restaurants and wine farms
• Restaurants and Bars will close at 20h00
• Mandatory mask wearing outside your home / hotel

We also now have more HOT SPOTS in South Africa where in addition to the above restrictions, all beaches, dams, lakes, rivers, swimming pools and public parks are also closed:

• Western Cape : West Coast, Overberg, Cape Winelands, Cape Town, Central Karoo, Garden Route
• Eastern Cape: Sarah Baartman, Chris Hani, Buffalo City, Nelson Mandela Bay, Amathole, OR Tambo, Alfred Nzo
• KwaZulu-Natal: eThekwini, Umgungundlovu, Ugu, Harry Gwala, Ilembe, King Cetshwayo
• Gauteng: West Rand, Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni
• Limpopo: Waterberg, Capricorn
• North West: Bojanala

Product Updates for this week

• Knorhoek Guest House no longer offers breakfast and clients have to go to the on-site restaurant if they wish to have breakfast

• Tuli Safari Lodge is now part of Mashatu Game Reserve, details to follow

• Black Rhino Game Lodge and Mjejane River Lodge are no longer part of the Extraordinary portfolio. They are now represented by An African Anthology

Let’s see what this year ahead holds for all of us and let’s stay positive!