Humble Dive Tourism Beginnings!!

"If you thought that #Cape #Town had only #mountains and #vineyards to offer, well, think again. Vertigo and hangovers are just the tip of the iceberg. The #oceans is where it's really at - yes folks, oceans, in the plural- We have two of them. The beaches are reserved for beach bums and sand fleas, so that leaves the real oceans free for the tourists. The real oceans are about #exotic #coral #gardens, #hidden #treasures in #historic #wrecks and #rugged #reefs abounding in #marine #life. This is what PJ'S dive charters offer you; a whole new experience, a #rare opportunity to see the #Cape's #vast #underwater #wealth. PJ van der Walt will arrange and escort shore and boat dives along the west coast, round the peninsula and False Bay as far as Struisbaai. All dives are supervised according to internationally recognized standards, and instruction in both snorkeling and scuba diving is available to those who wish to learn. PJ's #exotic #dive #locations include #Cape #Town's #coral #gardens, #Justin's #Cave's and at least #15 #fascinating #wrecks around the #Cape #peninsula. #Wreck #dives vary in depth from $4m to #46m in depth, so you don't have to be related to #Jacques #Cousteau to qualify. For the intrepid explorers of the deep, who wish to venture further, and have the experience and certification to prove it, PJ can arrange something a little more challenging. #Shark #cage #diving with #Great #White #Sharks, as we are the #first and #only #operators offering this #unique #experience."

This was the press release at the opening of PJ'S Dive Charters. How little i knew that #Great #White #Shark #Cage #Diving was going to turn into a #million #dollar #industry internationally. Here in South Africa alone the industry turns over millions annually.

From then untill 1990 i was the only operator who offered this unique experience.

The first six months learning curve was very, very steep. Learn't a lot about how, where, what to do , what not to do, what Great Whites liked , what they did not like. Later the things that i had learn't, done and observed were latter published by many as new discoveries, and today recognized world wide.


I became a member of Cape Town Tourism, qualified as an Dive Master with N.A.U.I. during September 1988.

Great Expectations, no sharks!! The first 6 months we could not find any Great White Sharks, some days we would use up to 600 liters of chum ............. no sharks!! I really panicked, as i thought that these animals were really on the verge of extinction. How silly of me, later i was to learn that Great White Trophy hunting was prolific, and that these animals were very, very smart. I learn't that every time a boat was around with any form of chum or attractant, these animals simply stayed away.

My first sighting of Great Whites came after another long exhausting day of waiting and no sightings. We had been using Whale blubber to attract the White Sharks but, alas no sharks even came for a nibble. After we had hoisted #anchor and were under way with the #blubber left floating, no sooner were we 50m away and oh boy, was the water alive with 4 Great Whites fighting over those two pieces of blubber. Yea our 1st sightings of Great Whites. Wow were we excited, waned the skipper to stop but the wind had come up and skipper wanted to get home. Now i knew that the Great Whites were around, at last, 6 months later, and where i could find them.

The very next day we were off to #Dyer Island again. With more blubber, whale meat and seal carcasses. The excitement was palpable. I could just not wait to get out there to see what the day would bring. What a day we had two very large White's around both male and they played with us in the sense that when we had a piece of blubber tied to a line , then they would find the line, and bite it in half , between the boat and the float. So i started heaving unattached blubber over board and wow what a sight. These sharks went crazy, they loved the blubber and it bought the big sharks, 5 to 6m in length. These two sharks ate our entire 700kg of bait in no time at all.
Then disappeared. Back to the drawing board. So it went for the next 5 weeks as i experimented with different baits, methods of deployment, floating the bait to feed them and the last thing i did during those 5 weeks of experimentation was to see if i could feed these animals by hand, from the cage and from outside of the cage. Talk about an adrenalin rush.

George Askew, Mike Vincent and two other divers were in the cage, that day when i attempted this and boy o boy did my heart rush around in my body looking for a place to escape. A 6.5m something #Great #White #female, really got me by surprise as she appeared out of nowhere to take the "vaalhaai", a species of shark caught here #commercially in the Cape, from my hand. George and Mike getting some really great #pictures, even though the #viz was only about 2.5m.

Great now i could start advertising and this is the form it took with the first 4 x 3 day #tours. As always when anyone one starts any new venture a lot of running around is done trying to attract the #diving fraternity to come to #Cape #Town, #South #Africa to experience this unique offering.

It took a little time, but things started heating up and soon had people coming from France, Germany, America and lots of South African folk. Patriece Herud a French journalist for #Plongez le #magazine, was my 1st international client. He came to here to write an article about this, a unique first for and in South Africa, Great White Shark cage diving!

What an exciting time that was. The poor journalist was so sea sick that my crew and i ended up taking all his pictures for him. For the 4 days that he was here we had up to nine Great Whites around us. Part of that trip #film footage for 50/50 was shot, camera man MIke Vincent got more than he bargained for. Mike had spent the previous 5 weeks trying to get footage of Great Whites at #Bird #Island, just off the eastern ##Coast, and was really pessimistic about obtaining any footage. More about that later

This brings me to the end of this chapter of the beginnings of how Great White Shark Cage diving started here in South Africa.

Mobile app diagnoses malaria from a single drop of blood

27th July 2011 in Health & Wellbeing.

The virtual ink had barely dried on our story about the Skin Scan app for diagnosing melanoma when we received word of another, equally compelling mobile diagnostic tool. Focusing this time on the millions of people at risk from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world, Lifelens is a project that has created a smartphone app to diagnose the insidious, mosquito-borne disease.

More than one million people die each year from Malaria, and roughly 85 percent of them are children under the age of 5, the Lifelens project notes. The most prevalent diagnostic tool, meanwhile, is the rapid diagnostic test (RDT), which is known to be associated with a 60 percent incidence rate of false positive results. That, in turn, results in the treatment of many people who don’t actually have Malaria, driving up the costs of anti-Malaria treatment significantly. The Lifelens project, on the other hand, aims to make the process both cheaper and more accurate by analyzing blood digitally instead. Specifically, once blood is stained to reveal the Malaria parasites, the project’s smartphone app can analyze a magnified image of a drop of blood captured via simple finger prick, including counting the various types of cells it includes. Malarial parasites are among those it can identify, making false results much less likely. Once analysis is complete, data is uploaded to the Web, where it can be mapped for a high-level view of where Malaria outbreaks are occurring. The video below demonstrates Lifelens in action:

Melanoma and Malaria, of course, are just two of countless other afflictions that plague mankind. Mobile entrepreneurs: where else could smartphones be used to save lives?

Website: www.thelifelensproject.com
Contact: wilson.to@thelifelensproject.com

Falling in love with Cape Town

South Africa’s Mother City, with its cloud-draped Table Mountain, golden #beaches and bountiful vineyards, captures people’s hearts.

Few cities contain a wonderful national park at their heart or provide the broad range of adventurous activities that take full advantage of it. Accentuating this natural majesty is Capetonians’ creative flair with design and colour. From the brightly painted facades to the contemporary Afro-chic décor of its guesthouses, restaurants and bars, this is one handsome metropolis.

This year #Cape Town had to prepare for its biggest party since the first democratic elections of 1994. For the 2010 World Cup, the city made a bold architectural statement in the new Green Point Stadium, complemented by improved infrastructure to host the hundreds of thousands of participants.

Its star attraction is #Table Mountain National Park. To Nelson Mandela and his fellow prisoners on Robben Island it was a beacon of hope. To the millions of people who have climbed or been transported in the cableway to its 1088m peak, it is the ultimate viewpoint over the city.

If you want to get active, Cape Town‘s wind-whipped waves and Table Mountain is a nirvana for the adventure sport enthusiast, with operators lining up to ensure you don’t go home without having experienced adrenaline rushes like surfing and rock climbing.

For more extreme adventures, such as #shark-cage diving or paragliding, you’ll need to travel out of the city or wait for the ideal weather conditions. But it is not all about thrill-seeking. The #Mother City is also a fabulous location for a leisurely game of golf, practicing your yoga moves or a spot of pampering at the spa. #Capetonians are also avid supporters of sport – enthusiastically attending football, rugby or cricket games.

Don’t forget to leave some space in your suitcase because you will probably be leaving Cape Town laden with booty. An irresistible range of products – from modern African beadwork to fine wines – is guaranteed to turn even the most consumer-averse visitor into a shopaholic.

Local design and fashion are sizzling hot, so if you want to give your wardrobe or home that contemporary African look, Cape Town is the place to break out the credit card. The city also acts as a clearing house for antiques and curios from all over Africa and you’ll find some amazing pieces here – as well as plenty of fakes!

This is also a delicious city to #dine in. The best of Cape Town’s restaurants and #cafés are on a par with those of larger and more cosmopolitan cities, and its top chefs can stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Gordon Ramsey, Charlie Trotter or Jamie Oliver, lending the city the nickname, ‘Tavern of the Seven Seas’.

After dinner, head out on a Friday or Saturday night to #Long St, De Waterkant or #Camps Bay for an experience of how the locals like to party. During the long, warm #summer nights you will find some convivial place to while away the evening. There is certainly no shortage of bars with stunning views of either beach or mountain and, if getting a workout on the dance floor is more your thing, then there’s bound to be a club to suit.

It’s not all about drinking and dancing. Cape Town’s nightlife also embraces cabaret and comedy venues, and live music gigs with #jazz, rock and pop are all popular. Cape Town has a vibrant and creative arts scene. There’s a healthy range of theatrical offerings and for music lovers, the exciting news is the development of Old Town Hall into a dedicated music and cultural venue.

If you’d like a glass of red with that, there are more than 200 wineries within a day’s drive of the city. Cape Town is the natural hub for touring the Western Cape’s Winelands. This is where South Africa’s wine industry – now the ninth-largest in the world – began, three centuries ago.

Above all, Cape Town is a multicultural city, where respect for different ways of living is ingrained. Given #South Africa’s troubled history, such wisdom has been hard won: practically everyone has a fascinating, sometimes heartbreaking story to tell. When the time comes to leave, you may find your heart breaking, too.

Franschhoek Uncorked Festival

3 & 4 September 2011
Make your way to the picturesque #Franschhoek #Wine Valley, over the weekend of 3 and 4 September, for the unique spring wine meander, Franschhoek Uncorked. This multi-faceted celebration takes place on satellite farms throughout the Valley, and affords award-winning wineries - as well as the smaller hidden gems - the opportunity to ‘bloom’ as they showcase new vintages and releases, coinciding with the onset of spring.

Highly acclaimed wineries, participating in this much loved #event include Allée Bleue, Boekenhoutskloof, Cabrière, Solms-Delta, Graham Beck Wines, Grande Provence, La Motte, Anthonij Rupert Wines, Môreson, Rickety Bridge, Vrede en Lust and Plaisir de Merle. Also included in the line up are some of Franschhoek’s smaller gems such as Dieu Donné, Franschhoek Cellars, GlenWood Wines, La Chataigne, Lynx Wines, La Petite Ferme, Topiary Wines and Maison. In addition select #wineries will keep their visitors entertained with a range of events, whilst enjoying their fine #wines.

Take in the picturesque scenery while soaking in country hospitality at its best. Wander along leisurely from #farm to farm, enjoying some of live entertainment on show while enjoying fine wines and an array of delectable treats; a taste of what you can expect from #South Africa’s gourmet capital.

So, with something for everyone, make a weekend of your visit, taking full advantage of the various accommodation packages on offer. Come and indulge yourself as you witness the country’s gourmet capital blossom and come alive
For more information about the #festival and #accommodation,please contact:
riverlodgebackpackers@gmail.co​m or phone us +27 (0)214480526

Llandudno Beach, Cape Town

Llandudno Beach must be one of the finest #Cape Town Beaches. The pristine crescent of #Llandudno beach curls itself into the base of the mountain rock between #Hout Bay and #Camps Bay. A steep stare from the coastal road, light blues melt to deep darks where ships have wrecked themselves in stormy waters.

Roll out your #beach towel, read a romance novel and relax. Throw open a picnic blanket, toss your cares ashore and tunnel your toes into the sand. Wave #surfers and lifesavers challenge the currents but for the less competitive an ankle-deep Atlantic dip will refresh. Blow up a beach ball for the kids and let them finger sketch in the soft white sand. The wind may wake you from a sea-side snooze so try to find a sheltered spot behind a rock if a breeze is a bother. No refreshments are for sale, so come packed and prepared. Lather up in sunscreen, though a little further from the sun down in Llandudno, it will reach you strong.

Bring a brolly and the family and brave the day beach side. In an elite residential area the parking is minimal so the big beach is seldom crowded. Llandudno is great for sunbathing and recreational activities. The views from the beach are spectacular and the water is often a clear tropical blue that’s inviting and refreshing, but rather cool. Stay a little later on the beach and you will be treated to awesome sunsets. If you feel like taking a stroll, there’s a great walk out to the rocks on the right hand side that will give you stunning views looking back at the beach. The waves are powerful and great for surfing. If you are not a strong swimmer do not venture out too far. This is a popular surf spot with a hollow beach break.