I'm back within distance of communication via cell phone and internet after being in the Transkei for one week. I have been helping out with my friend's PhD project monitoring predator marine activity during the annual South African coast sardine run. This sardine run is quite famous as filmmakers from National Geographic and BBC come down to try to capture this phenomenon of bait balls (sardines circling in a tight ball formation) and the sharks, whales, dolphins, gannets and other predatory fish follow them along the coast. Apparently this year's sardine run was a flop because of the consecutive fronts that hit the coast the last two weeks of the run. Unfortunate times for filmers but could be useful information for researchers like Sean. Basically I was hiking 1 1/2 hours through high grass (tick-infested), prickly bush, boggy patches of mud, cow patches all over the place and crossing river streams to the research site. The view was spectacular and you can see the other photos by clicking on the Catherdral Rock photo. Great times near the campfire with Nowelee's delicious stews, a porter house steak with bbq'ed gem squash and potatoes... besides the polony sandwiches, the appetite was satisfied. The weekend before coming back to Durban, we stopped off at the hippy town called Port St. John's. Apparently, this was an area that people who were trying to avoid the whole apartheid era escaped to this coastal town and hide from the policy in the high cliffs and bush. Being there now, I can see all those possibilities. Enjoy the photos and on we go with the last of my Master's courses....
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