The one thing we really love about our local aquarium, The Cape Town Two Oceans Aquarium, is that it is really possible for folk, especially kids to become involved in their work. It is one of Cape Town’s priceless outings for families. While only a couple of our kids have ever been there, all my children feel very strongly affiliated with the work that they do… which is really an accolade to the educators that work there.
A Walking Tour
For many folks the aquarium is an introduction to aquatic life… tanks filled with interesting creatures…
Mysterious creatures from the ocean depths…
To local birdlife… (note to self: put some fruit out for the little birds in the hedge)
River life…
And even… well we have these in our garden, dare I say: essential creepy life… These rather large slithery friends keep rodents at bay and the smaller ones that we have in our vegetable garden are fantastic at keeping slugs and snails off out of our lettuce leaves.
Behind the Scenes:
But there is so much more to The Two Oceans Aquarium than halls filled with fishtanks…
I recently went for a quick behind the scene’s tour… and while the view is simply unbeatable… I do shudder just a little bit at the amount of maintenance required.
All these tanks have to be cleaned and maintained…
Diving equipment kept at the ready…
And filtration tanks ensure only the best water quality for all those aquatic animals.
Student Workshops
The educational team is passionate about conserving the ocean environment and teaching the next generation about looking after this valuable resource. They make sure that heaps of information is available for curious marine life enthusiasts of all ages. Did you know that over and above the holiday workshops that they have for young scientists… They also have workshops for older students that are sponsored and involve a whole lot of hands-on-learning… not just bookwork. More than that by the time the young scientists have been through their courses they are ready for more training to become part of the Volunteer Program… which is brilliant. Just when you are all enthused and dying to learn more – they have provided more!!!
I had a peak into their lecture rooms…
Lots to look at…
Even tanks on the table…
For taking a closer peek…
Lots of things to touch and explore…
Plenty of things to investigate and inspire curious minds.
The Ocean Explorer
I love that their learning is not confined to classrooms and tanks… they have no problem heading outdoors for some hands-on exploring…
Nothing beats the freedom of some open water learning…
The Penguin Waddle
And then of course they have totally fabulous and free events… bringing environmental savvy-ness into the hands of anyone and everyone. This past week they took The Penguin Waddle, a walk all the way from Gansbaai to Boulder’s Beach in Simonstown. Inviting the general public to join them every step of the way… Bringing, not just the plight of the penguin to the public’s attention, but the environment as a whole. Last year we joined the Penguin Waddle in Fish Hoek and there was no way we were going to let this fab opportunity pass us by… This past Saturday we hauled on our marching gear and headed out…
The Official waddlers caught us we were passing Glencairn…
And there weren’t just a few of them…
Thrilled to say there were lots more walkers than last year…
Some folk had to stretch their legs…
And get ever so slightly ahead…
And one of us, who was wearing his usual “incognito” kit, really fitted the part!!!
Others were just thrilled to be along!!!
And as we headed into Simonstown we met a few real live penguins…
And Simonstown put on a great show…
For all the walkers, with heaps of penguin fun for families…
On we went…
Until finally we made it to our destination…
Boulder’s Beach… the home of our local penguin colony.
And we were rewarded with penguin stamps for our efforts…
Well done Hoods on a great march…
Seriously we can’t wait for next year… and quite a few of the gang are threatening to walk all the way from Gansbaai!!! You can read all about the Waddle and the Penguin Promises here: The Waddle: Day One; Day Two; Day Three; Day Four; Day Five; and And Day 6:
And those are just some of the community projects that our aquarium gets up to… you just can’t beat it!!!
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, we say that we really and truly love the aquarium because we do and we were not paid to say so in any way!!! I can’t say they do not know who we are, they most certainly do – hard to miss a family of eight kids joining the troops and marching along the route with fellow waddlers!!!
ooo, waw!