BIG TIME RUSH

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH SHARKS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN, FLOATING OVER A FOREST CANOPY LIKE A CLOUD, AND PLUNGING DOWN CLIFFS ON THE HIGHEST GORGE SWING KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE IS A HOTBED FOR THE ADVENTUROUS OF HEART

- PALLAVI PASRICHA

CAGE AND RELEASE

I feel smothered in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean. Sharks, big and small, dart freely around my steel cage feasting on small fish tossed to lure them. For a fleeting moment, I feel jealous of the predators as they glide gracefully in the incredibly blue waters, but after all, I am the outsider, who has entered their underwater home.

For my adrenaline-packed tryst with the sharks, I wake up at 3.30 a.m. in Zimbali, 50 kilometres from Durban, for the two-hour journey aboard a mini bus to Rocky Bay on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal province. "Jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul," my guide Fundisiwe Mlotshwa's words give me a motivational nudge and set the tone for a day that would take me from under the ocean to the belly of a deep gorge.

As my fellow travellers and I chomp on some chicken wraps, anticipation and tension race through my blood; will the sharks be aggressive? How close will I be to them? Is there even a remote chance of a mishap? Stills from Jaws resurface from my subconscious.

The 10-minute ride on an inflatable rubber boat to reach the site eight kilometres away is not for the faint-hearted. As the pounding waves fling the craft up and down, the salt water splatters my face and I cling on to the rope for dear life. Two of my companions get seasick.