See You Later, Sharks
Traveling this fast, and in a tight-knit group like ours, we seldom encounter people we have the time to get to know and like.
I cautiously approach tour operators. On one hand they want us there, on the other, they might resent the fact that their labor of love (if it is regarded as such) is yet another notch in our decked out belt of African freebies. Their concern is justified. Some activities on our itinerary are just checkmarks - necessary research on places we must write about but would rather skip.
Umkomaas was one of the core stops we have selected for our guidebook's Shark Route. We've arrived so late that I was embarrassed to ring Dietmar and Rafaella's doorbell, even though they'd said anytime before midnight would be alright. Tour operators rarely invite us to their homes, unless it's a home office, so we were ready and expecting to have a short chat about tomorrow's diving with tiger sharks and then go find a place to crash.
Surprisingly, we were invited to stay. A bit confused at first and trying not to overstay our welcome, we thought of declining the invitation, but somehow over some authentic Italian pasta and a few glasses of red wine we never got to that. For the first time in months we found ourselves at a proper dinner table, rather than a camping stove, having a relaxing dinner and good conversation. Not that we lack good conversation squatting over yet another pot of whatever-it-is-today stew, but it was a nice change of pace.
I'm used to making friends in a blink of an eye. Anybody who has ever done this sort of travel knows this is an inseparable part of being a backpacker. But this time I was just caught off guard - Dietmar and Raffa were just so naturally hospitable and friendly, it felt more like staying with good old friends.
Funny enough, we didn't even get a chance to dive. The sky turned dark and the seas stormy. So all I have to show from our little stop in Umkomaas are a few photos of monkeys performing circus acts on Dietmar and Raffa's telephone wires.
Not to worry though - we still have a job to do and no weather will avert us from doing it. We just need to wait out the storm. For now we will be continuing our way down to Cape Town, but as soon as we return Columbus we plan to fly back to Umkomaas. After all, we don't want to keep old friends and tiger sharks waiting.
I cautiously approach tour operators. On one hand they want us there, on the other, they might resent the fact that their labor of love (if it is regarded as such) is yet another notch in our decked out belt of African freebies. Their concern is justified. Some activities on our itinerary are just checkmarks - necessary research on places we must write about but would rather skip.
Umkomaas was one of the core stops we have selected for our guidebook's Shark Route. We've arrived so late that I was embarrassed to ring Dietmar and Rafaella's doorbell, even though they'd said anytime before midnight would be alright. Tour operators rarely invite us to their homes, unless it's a home office, so we were ready and expecting to have a short chat about tomorrow's diving with tiger sharks and then go find a place to crash.
Surprisingly, we were invited to stay. A bit confused at first and trying not to overstay our welcome, we thought of declining the invitation, but somehow over some authentic Italian pasta and a few glasses of red wine we never got to that. For the first time in months we found ourselves at a proper dinner table, rather than a camping stove, having a relaxing dinner and good conversation. Not that we lack good conversation squatting over yet another pot of whatever-it-is-today stew, but it was a nice change of pace.
I'm used to making friends in a blink of an eye. Anybody who has ever done this sort of travel knows this is an inseparable part of being a backpacker. But this time I was just caught off guard - Dietmar and Raffa were just so naturally hospitable and friendly, it felt more like staying with good old friends.
Funny enough, we didn't even get a chance to dive. The sky turned dark and the seas stormy. So all I have to show from our little stop in Umkomaas are a few photos of monkeys performing circus acts on Dietmar and Raffa's telephone wires.
Not to worry though - we still have a job to do and no weather will avert us from doing it. We just need to wait out the storm. For now we will be continuing our way down to Cape Town, but as soon as we return Columbus we plan to fly back to Umkomaas. After all, we don't want to keep old friends and tiger sharks waiting.