Farewell SANCCOB

Yesterday was my final day at SANCCOB. As per my special request, I was assigned to Pen 3. The morning started off with 17 penguins, mostly blues which I adore, but the vet was able to upgrade a bunch of the penguins from Pen 2 so in the afternoon they moved over. All of the penguins in Pen 3 are one hour swimmers and none require fluids therefore they only need to be fed twice a day. When I wasn't busy feeding my penguins, I was busy helping others around the centre with other tasks, mostly cleaning and hanging laundry on the line since it was such a beautiful day! The day went very well and I managed to finish my day without any more cuts or bruises. I was sad to say goodbye to all the new friends I had made and of course the beautiful African penguins

Today was my final day in Cape Town, as I head off on my tour tomorrow. Luckily the weather was great so I was finally able to go to Robben Island, something I've been wanting to do since I arrived. I went with Rachel, one of the other volunteers from the house. Robben Island was originally used as a leper colony. A long time ago it was a law that anyone with leprosy be sent to the island. This remained in effect until a cure for leprosy was found at which time the lepers were sent to various hospitals for treatment. From 1964 until 1991 the island was used as a prison for political prisoners, the most famous of them being former president Nelson Mandela. The tour started off with a 25 minute boat ride out to the island which is 12km from the shore. Next we hopped onto a bus where we were given a tour of the island. Different historic landmarks were pointed out including the leper graveyard and the lime quarry where political prisoners were forced to work. The island is currently home to approximately 100 people which are employees of Robben Island and their families. To accommodate these people there is a community hall, elementary school, medical centre and grocery store. Along the bus tour we stopped to take some stunning photos of Table Mountain. After the bus tour we went inside the prison where we were given a tour by an ex-political prisoner. We were shown cells where up to 40 men at a time were kept, given a history of the prison and also shown the cell where Nelson Mandela stayed. After the tour finished we got the boat back to the waterfront where we wandered around the markets for a little while, before catching a taxi home.

Tomorrow I am heading out on my week long Cape to Addo tour. My bags are packed and I'm ready to go! As I will most likely not have access to the internet this week, I will not being posting any updates until I return from my tour. Next weekend I will be starting my trip back to Canada - home sweet home.

Lunch with Pat

It's a beautiful sunny day in Cape Town so I'm writing this from my laptop in our backyard. It's been quite windy and a little chilly the last little while so I'm soaking up every bit of sunshine that I can.

Another five days have passed since my last entry. I've been busy, hard at work and have come down with a cold so it's been early to bed for with me this past week. I worked all weekend in Pen 2 with the penguins, along with Chris, an international volunteer from England. We had almost 30 penguins, many of whom were on fluids. Most of the penguins we had were blues (the juveniles) which most people don't like feeding because they tend to wiggle a lot while you're holding them, but they are my favourite!! We have one blue in right now, penguin 263 who is so comical and actually really sweet. Anytime you're doing something in the pen he wants to be around you and be close to the action. When it comes to feeding time he always needs to be the first one fed otherwise you'll find yourself short on fish because he steals them from the bowl when you're not looking!! He's also a free feeder which is nice because instead of having to hold him and force feed him, you just need to hand him a fish and he'll it eat himself. Monday was much the same except I was assigned to Pen 3, most of whom were adults and only needed to be fed twice a day, so the rest of time I spent helping with general duties around the centre. Yesterday all of the penguins in Pen 3, except for one, were released back into the wild. It was a big release of 22 penguins!

On Tuesday I had the privilege of going for lunch with the Ed, the director of AVIVA and three other volunteers to the home of Pat Cavendish O'Neill. Pat was born into a rich family, her mother was married four times, twice to millionaires and twice to men with titles. All men died early and left their fortunes to Pat's mother Enid. Enid was good friends with many well known people of the twentieth century - Princess Grace, Winston Churchill and Coco Chanel just to name a few. From a young age Pat had a love for animals, always bringing home stray dogs and cats. Pat was also married four times, twice to the same man who she is still with today. Once while on a trip to Kenya, one of her boyfriends gave her a lion cub whose mother had been killed by poachers. Pat knew the cub couldn't just be put back into the wild so she decided to move to Kenya and raise the cub who she called Tana. Over the years and still to this day Pat takes in many stray and orphaned animals including baboons, chimps, vervet monkeys, goats and of course dogs and cats. When we went for lunch on Tuesday we were given a tour of her property and shown many of the animals, including Baloo the baboon and Kalu the chimp. She also has many many dogs and cats and a goat who thinks it's a dog. We had a lovely lunch outside followed by dessert and coffee. After coffee, Pat signed my copy of her book 'A Lion in the Bedroom' which covers the first 50 or so years of her life. Pat was a very nice, down-to-earth woman with many incredible stories to share. I only wished I'd had more time to stay and chat, but I'm sure it would take weeks or months to hear about all her adventures. After lunch, Ed took us to a beautiful winery close by, overlooking the area of Somerset West, called Waterkloof where we did some wine tasting. We were told we would have a chance to try six wines, but because it wasn't very busy at the time, we ended up trying all nine wines they had available. Waterkloof carried some of the higher end wines that you will find in South Africa - up to R140 (about $18 a bottle!) If only our expensive wines were that price!! Cheaper wines here range between R20-R60 per bottle ($3-$9). For any wine lovers out there, Cape Town is the place to be!

Shark!!!!

I dedicate this entry to my good friend Wendy, whose biggest fear growing up was sharks (even though we grew up in Ontario, far far away from any sharks!)

Before leaving for South Africa I had told many friends and family that I was interested in going shark cage diving during my trip. I was told over and over to be careful and my dear brother Brandon even thought it was a good idea to show me videos of shark cage diving gone wrong. I figured if I could jump out of a plane and survive I could surely jump into a cage in shark invested waters. Since I am here typing this entry, I'm sure you've all figured out that I survived and did not lose any limbs or digits.

The day started off with a 7:30 pick-up at the AVIVA house, along with two other volunteers, Luc and Charlotte. Traffic was really heavy so it took a while to get into Cape Town to pick up four others who would be joining us on the boat. The drive to our diving spot took another two hours after we had finished picking everyone up. When we arrived there was a table with fruit, toast and muffins for breakfast as well as juice, tea and coffee. I had heard from other volunteers who had already gone shark cage diving that almost everyone on the boat had gotten sick because of the ocean swells so I was afraid to eat too much just in case. After a quick briefing about what to expect from our day and how to use our life vests we headed out to the boat. This time of year the sharks stay fairly close to shore so it only took about 10-15 minutes to get to our diving location. Within minutes of the boat stopping the first shark appeared beside the boat. The first group that was going in the cage quickly got into their wetsuits and jumped in for about 20 minutes. I was part of the second group to go in along with Luc and Charlotte. The cages are large enough to hold up to five people at a time. Along with our wetsuits we were also given a mask to wear so we could see underwater and a weight belt to stop us from floating around. The water was absolutely freezing, but the wetsuits were 7mm thick so they really helped to keep us warm. Whenever a shark started approaching the cage we would be told to go down and which direction to look. To go underwater you have to push yourself down, grab onto a bar inside the cage and hook your feet under a bar on the bottom of the cage. The first few times I tried to push myself under I was unsuccessful because I couldn't get my feet under the bar so my legs were dangling about. I kept feeling like my legs were going to float right out of the cage and into the sharks mouth!! After a while I figured out the technique and was able to enjoy the experience a lot more. It was so incredible to see the sharks so close up. There were many times where they would within inches of the cage. To attract the sharks a tuna fish is thrown into the water attached to a large rope. As the shark approaches the tuna, it's yanked away so it can't grab on, but instead is lured close to the cage. There were however a couple times where the shark was able to grab onto the tuna and bite it right off the rope. Each group of divers were given two turns in the cage, for about 20-30 minutes each turn. We were the last group in the water and I think it was the most exciting of them all. While we were still in the cage one of the sharks came right towards us and as it turned away the tail smashed right into the cage. I loved every moment of the experience. We were very lucky to have a fairly calm sea, beautiful weather and lots of shark sightings. Unfortunately great white sharks are in the top 10 list of endangered species due to poaching and they figure they will be extinct within the next 10-15 years. Sharks have always been given a bad reputation, but after seeing them first hand I can say they are a truly remarkable species.

After returning from shark diving this evening, four volunteers and myself joined Ursula (one of the AVIVA tour guides) on a street feeding program that she does on a weekly basis. We bought 50 hotdogs and buns and took them to homeless people living under the bridges in Cape Town. The people we fed were so grateful to receive the food and also to have someone to speak to. Many of the people did not speak English, so Ursula would translate for us. We fed people as young as five and as old as 60. Tonight was fairly warm compared to what the nights have been, but generally they are quite cold so I gave one of the women my sweater. She seemed very grateful and put it on right away. We were only able to stop at a few places before we ran out of food. As soon as we would stop to feed a group, more and more people would show up. Luckily just as we were giving out the last of our hotdogs, a young couple pulled up who were also giving out food so they continued on where we left off. Even though we were only gone for about an hour, it was a night I will never forget.

Handle With Care

Spring has sprung in Cape Town and the weather has been very up and down this week. On Monday I was back to work at SANCCOB, assigned to Pen 2 with another volunteer, which only had seven penguins and even though they were on two-hourly fluids it didn't take long to get each of the tasks done. I was also asked to help out in Pen 3 throughout the day because there were still 36 penguins. Tuesday was my day off, but SANCCOB had a penguin release scheduled so I went in only to find out it was cancelled due to bad weather. Probably a good thing because the wind was very strong so I would have been quite sick on the boat. While I was there I got to see the newest bird, a beautiful juvenile pelican. He is huge, hard to believe he's not even full grown yet. After I left SANCCOB I ended up relaxing for most of the day, other than a quick trip to the mall to buy a book. Yesterday I was supervisor of Pen 1 and Aviary. I was training one of the new volunteers how to clean the pens and care for the birds in them. The weather was still bad yesterday so the release was delayed once again.

Third times a charm! Today the weather was beautiful and the sea was fairly calm so the release got a definite go ahead! To get the penguins ready for release, their tags are removed and they get a bright pink spray painted dot on their belly. This way conservation officers will know that they are newly released penguins from SANCCOB. Afterwards they were put in a box and loaded into the truck for the trip to the waterfront. Myself and three other volunteers went along for the release. We were aboard a whale watching boat, but no other customers joined so it ended up being just us. We went out towards Robben Island where the boat was stopped and we each took turns doing the release. It was such an exciting, proud moment to see them jump into the water. Some of them waited around the boat for a few moments, not quite sure what to do, while others happily swam about. Because there were no whale watching customers, after the release we headed straight back to the harbor and then caught a taxi home.

I just finished dinner and am waiting to start a game of cards with some of the volunteers at the AVIVA house. It has been really quite around here the last few days. Just a couple weeks ago there were close to 20 volunteers in the house and now there are only seven of us. Every week people are coming and going. There are volunteers from three programs that stay here - SANCCOB, Home of Hope orphanage and African School Children Feeding. Of all the volunteers at the house, I have now been here the longest of anyone, everyone else who was here when I arrived have completed their programs and gone home. I have just a week and a half left at the AVIVA house before I leave for my tour then I will return for one night before I head for home on September 19th!

Cape Peninsula Tour

Yesterday I finished a four day work streak at SANCCOB. On Wednesday I worked with the oily penguins in Pen C with another volunteer which was fairly easy because there were only seven penguins and it was wash day which meant we weren't able to give fluids or feed them for a few hours while they were being washed. It's always nice to see the difference it makes after the penguins have the oil washed off. Thursday I worked in Pen 3 which started off as a relatively easy day because there were two volunteers and 17 penguins. On Thursday they were checking the status of the penguins and upgrading the ones that were healthy and strong to 20 minute swimmers. By the end of the day we had 38 penguins!! That meant lots more penguins to feed and give fluids and formula to. Friday I was assigned to general duty which involved doing multiple loads of laundry, preparing hundreds of syringes, washing buckets and other random tasks that needed to be done around the centre. Yesterday I was once again assigned to Pen 3 with the 38 penguins, many of whom are very strong, fast and not so friendly. This week at work I played around with my waterproof camera and got some great shots of the penguins enjoying their swims in the pool. Some of the penguins were quite curious and were getting a little too close to the camera - maybe they thought it was a fish!

Today I went on a tour of the cape peninsula with AVIVA with our wonderful tour guide Ursula. We left early this morning with our first stop being Hout Bay where we boarded a boat to have a look at seal island. The small island is home to over 1500 cape fur seals. Many of them looked comfortable laying on the rocks, soaking up the sun, while others enjoyed playing around in the ocean.

After returning from our quick boat ride, we drove along the mountainside of Chapman's Peak where we stopped for some photos and to take in the view of the ocean and Hout Bay. We continued on to Simon's Town which is where the South African navy is based. We stopped in Simon's Town for lunch at a beautiful restaurant on the waterfront. After we finished eating we walked to Boulders Beach which is home to an African penguin colony. There were not as many penguins as I had expected, but with the species now being endangered it makes sense that the population has decreased. I was however able to spot a penguin with a pink dot which had been released from SANCCOB so it made me feel proud of the hard work I have been putting in at SANCCOB.

On our way to our next stop we passed by a bunch of cars that were stopped because people wanted to see the baboons that were wandering around. We were warned ahead of time by Ursula to close our windows and lock the doors because baboons are very clever and will open your doors and jump in. Many of the cars that were stopped had baboons walking all over them and some had stolen food and clothing from some of the people. They obviously didn't read warning signs posted everywhere in the area.

After taking some photos of the baboons we continued our drive to Cape Point where if you look in the far distance you can see where the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean meet. After a 15 minute hike we reached the top where we had a stunning view of the ocean and the surrounding area. On the walk down we were encountered by more baboons, this time a family of four. The babies were quite curious and were grabbing onto people's pants and shoes. One man made the mistake of walking past with a bag of chips and had the baboons follow him up the path. The last stop of the tour was to the Cape of Good Hope, the most South-Western point of Africa. After a quick photo opportunity we got back in the van for the drive back to Cape Town.

Whales and Penguins and Dassies, Oh My!!

Another 4 busy and exciting have passed here in Cape Town, I am constantly amazed by how fast the time is passing - tomorrow will mark the halfway point of my journey!

Saturday and Sunday were what have become normal workdays for me, except that on weekends there is only one staff member working so you are given more responsibility and less supervision. After just a few weeks at SANCCOB I have pretty much figured out the routine of what needs to be done and when. Both days I was assigned to work with penguins which was quite a task because most of the penguins were on two-hourly fluids meaning we had to give them water and darrows five times during the day as well as two fish feedings and some even needed formula twice a day. The reason for this is that many of the penguins had been oiled so they were very dehydrated. Luckily they are doing better now and will soon require less fluids by tubes and hopefully in a short time they will be ready to be released.

Yesterday didn't turn out as planned, but we adapted for the weather. Two other volunteers and myself were booked to go shark cage diving, but found out at the last minute that it was canceled due to the large swells on the ocean. We called Robben Island to see if their boats were still able to go out and told yes, the tours were still available so we caught a taxi into Cape Town. When we arrived at the ticket office we were told that the Robben Island tours were canceled for the day, once again because of the swells, so needless to say we were all disappointed. Luckily we were already at the beautiful V&A waterfront so we decided to take advantage of our time there. Our first stop was to the Two Oceans Aquarium which has hundreds of species of wildlife from the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It was amazing to see such unusual species of fish that we would never see back home and by the size and looks of some of them - ones I would not want to see in our waters!! After visiting the aquarium we walked around a few different markets to do a bit of shopping and pick up some souvenirs.

Today was one of the most exciting days in South Africa so far. A few of the volunteers rented a car for the day to go whale watching in Hermanus, which is about a two hour drive from Cape Town. Originally I hadn't planned on going because it is part of the tour I'll be doing in a couple weeks, but decided I would rather go whale watching twice than to sit around the house on my day off and am I ever glad I did! The drive to get to Hermanus was absolutely stunning, driving up and around mountain ranges, unlike anything I have ever seen. We arrived at the whale watching location just in time for our briefing before heading onto the boat. For the first half hour or so there were no sightings, but we were all excited just to be out on the ocean. Half an hour into the trip we spotted two southern right whales quite close to the boat. It was so exciting as this was my first time ever seeing whales and the fact that they were so close to us made it even more special. One of the whales was an albino which we were told is quite rare, only about 4% of the population are albino. We stayed and watched these whales for about 20 minutes before heading off to find some more. Within 10-15 minutes we spotted another eight whales, most of whom were busy mating. It was an amazing sight to see!! I was busy taking a video of some of the whales when all of a sudden one came right up beside the boat, I almost felt like I could reach down and touch it!! We ended up being out on the boat for 2.5 hours which I think was a little too long for a lot of people who had trouble dealing with the huge swells, luckily I wasn't one of them.

After whale watching we drove along the coast up to Betty's Bay where there is an African penguin colony. This was a very special moment for me because it is proof of the important work that is done at SANCCOB, rehabilitating penguins and releasing them back into the wild. We spotted some penguins with tags on which means they had once been at SANCCOB. We walked around taking pictures for about half an hour, but I could easily have spent much much longer there. The rest of the drive back was gorgeous and we had an amazing view of the ocean. We arrived back in Cape Town just before sunset so we decided to drive up Signal Hill to watch it because we heard it was the best place to see the sunset here, which I would have to agree. We got to the top of the hill just in time and although it was very cold outside, the view was perfect. A lovely way to finish off a perfect day.

Lovely View From Up Here

Yes, that's right, I jumped out of a perfectly good plane yesterday...and it was absolutely amazing!! For anyone who has ever thought about skydiving, just do it, you won't regret it. When I first arrived in Cape Town everyone kept talking about skydiving and asking me if I was going to do it, but I figured it was something I could just do at home sometime. Well after watching videos from many of the other volunteers, they had me convinced. Sure it's something I can do back home, but the view here was incredible - the city of Cape Town, Table Mountain and of course the Atlantic Ocean. The jump got me hooked and now I am in love with skydiving!! I said to my instructor before we were even on the ground that I was ready to go up again. AMAZING - that pretty much says it all.

After my awesome day of skydiving it was back to work today. I was placed in ICU again and was responsible for caring for the oily penguins which we only had two of. Even with just two birds to care for it was still a very busy day. Because the birds are weak and dehydrated they need to receive fluids every two hours which is either plain water or darrows which is basically like powerade for penguins and smells like Kool-aid. Some of the penguins also receive formula (the blended fish and canned dog food mixture) and all the birds also get fish twice a day. In between feeding and giving fluids there is plenty of cleaning to be done so there is never a dull moment. It's unbelievable how quickly the days go. As of today I only have 3 weeks left at SANCCOB and yet it feels like just yesterday that I started!

Hello Sunshine!!

Four more busy days in Cape Town have passed since my last update. Last weekend I thought I would be working, but found out late Friday that I would be off so I was scrambling at the last minute to find things to do. The weather was beautiful on Saturday so a group of vollies decided to go to the beach at Camp's Bay. The guys bought a soccer ball and kicked that around while the rest of us relaxed on the sand. One thing I am learning quickly is that everywhere you go, people will have stuff they will try to sell. Within minutes of arriving we had about 4 guys surround us with various items such as wooden carved figurines, bowls, jewellery and beaded keychains. I couldn't resist and ended up buying a few things. Afterwards we walked along the street where more vendors were selling items. I stopped for a few minutes to watch a man making a large gecko out of wire and beads. It was very impressive and made me feel good about supporting him by buying a couple of his keychains.

Sunday was much the same, but instead of going to the beach, we went to the green market square in Cape Town where dozens of vendors were selling the same sort of items as the day before. Unfortunately they were starting to close up, but I still had some time to run around and pick up a few things. The first time I tried bargaining a deal it was a little frustrating, but after a couple times it gets exciting. Every booth you pass by they tell you "I give you good price, today only" I have now heard this line at least a hundred since I've been here. I'm looking forward to going back to the green market someday when I have more time to browse.

Yesterday was a tiring, but good day at work. I was placed on ICU for my first time which is where all of the weak, sick and injured birds are kept. I was very confident feeding them and I also learned how to put tubes down their throats to give fluids and formula. This I learned quickly is not an easy task and it is also intimidating because you have to be very careful not to put the tube down their breathing hole.....or they will die. I think for my first time doing tubes I did pretty well.

Today I was placed on Pen 2 again where we currently have 18 penguins, many of whom had recently been oiled and then cleaned. I am now able to do all the tasks required in Pen 2 - feeding, tubes, and giving medication (putting pills down their throats with your finger - a little scary considering how insanely sharp their beaks are.) Now that I have done most tasks at least once I'm able to work almost anywhere in the centre. The only area I have not yet worked is with the oilies which I have heard is very difficult because they are not happy birds. Oh well, it's all part of the job.

The Sun, Moon, and New Beginnings

Today I went on a cultural tour of District 6 and three of the townships in Cape Town, in my opinion a definite must for anyone wanting to visit Cape Town. It really gives you a sense of what the blacks and coloured people of South Africa went through during apartheid and what they continue to struggle with today. The tour began with a drive through District 6 which was the first area deemed by the government during the days of aparthied as whites only. Any homes that were owned by blacks or coloured people were demolished. All that remained were homes owned by white people and places of education or worship. Many areas in District 6 are still empty to this day although they are now beginning to build homes for the original people of District 6 to return. After driving around the area we went to the District 6 museum to get a better idea of what the people who lived their went through.

After the museum we went to Landa (Afrikaans for 'sun') which is one of the many townships in Cape Town. When the township was first built only men were allowed to live there, meaning they had to leave their wives behind. After a few years the government allowed women to move into Landa because they realized women were needed to do jobs such as childcare in the area. We were taken into an arts centre where we met residents who were busy making pottery and picture frames to sell. Because the unemployment rate is so high in the townships, programs like these are created to teach the people skills that they can use to make a living.

Next we visited another township, Nyunga (Afrikaans for 'moon'.) The first stop was to visit a medicine doctor where we learned about natural healing and how witch doctors are chosen by fate. The witch doctor was in a tiny shack filled with tried animal parts and random bottles of liquids and creams. After visiting the witch doctor we went to an outdoor patio restaurant for lunch called Myzoni's Meats. The table was served a giant bowl with bbq'd chicken, lamb, and sausage along with a loaf of sliced bread. For the vegetarians, we were served creamed spinach, creamed pumpkin and a traditional dish made of maize. It was very delicious and the first cultural meal I've had since I arrived.

The last township we visited was Khayelitsha (Afrikaans for 'new beginnng') which is the largest township on the Western cape and the second largest township in South Africa next to Soweto. It currently has over 2 000 000 residents. We stopped off at Vicky's B&B, the smallest hotel in South Africa. The B&B was started in 1997 to allow tourists to experience and better understand life in the townships. Vicky is also very involved in the community and helps to feed the hungry and keep children busy and out of trouble. Afterwards we went across the road to Beauty's B&B and Sewing Project. Beauty was a very inspiring person to meet. She is also very involved in the community and helps train people to sew which they can use to make a living for themselves.

Out on the streets we had many children coming to meet us and all wanted to have their pictures taken. Everywhere you turned they were more and more children coming. As we drove off the children would run behind the van until they couldn't run anymore. It was certainly a site to see.

I feel very priviledged to have had the opportunity to meet some of the people in these townships and to hear their stories about their triumphs and their struggles. For those who are still struggling even after apartheid they don't give up because they know that tomorrow could bring big changes to their lives.

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened" - Anatole France

I can't believe another two days have by already!! There is never a dull moment at work and before I know it's 5:00 and I'm on my way home. Yesterday didn't turn out how I had expected it. I was scheduled to be part of the Blouberg Conservation Area crew which was going to be chopping an invasive species of trees, however there were not enough volunteers scheduled to be at SANCCOB so they asked if I would like to stay since I had done so well with the penguins the day before : ) I accepted and was assigned once again to Pen 2. Even though I had only worked with the penguins once, I felt that I had been doing it much longer. My reflexes were much quicker and I felt a lot more comfortable and confident catching and picking up the penguins. Feeding went much more smoothly as well. I was warned on Tuesday that the juvenile penguins (called 'blues') can be very difficult to feed because they wiggle a lot while you're trying to put the fish down their throat. They weren't kidding about the wiggling, but they are my favourite to feed because they are so small and cute. We have a penguin in Pen 2, #197, who is very curious and loves to hang around while you are trying to feed the others. He is a free feeder meaning he will eat a fish on his own if you hand it to him. The reason penguins at SANCCOB need to be fed by hand is that in the wild they catch fish while swimming so it's not natural for them to eat a fish out of water.
Yesterday a release was scheduled for 5 penguins and 2 cape gannets, but the boat that normally takes them out is unavailable until further notice. Luckily for the penguins there is a research boat that is going to bring them out on the weekend, but unfortunately they will not be able to take any volunteers. I still have another 4 weeks so I'm sure I will have the opportunity at some point.

Today was a little different than the last couple of work days. I was sent to the Cart Horse Protection Association which removes abused and neglected horses from owners, rehabilitates them and then hands them over to the ASPCA for adoption. It was an hour and a half drive each way so we only had a few hours available to work, but I feel like we accomplished a lot in the short time we had there. The first two hours we picked weeds in a few of the pens with horses wandering around us. After we had finished weeding we were shown how to brush a horse and for the next hour we brushed 3 horses. It was my first time grooming a horse and I absolutely loved it!! Because many of the horses have been abused, some did not like being touched and would try to bite, but there were others who were quite content with being brushed and shown lots of love and attention. Although working with horses is not what I signed up for, I still enjoyed it and felt like I was making a difference.

I Did It - I Fed a Penguin!!

Today was an exciting day full of learning and lots of penguin bites. I was assigned to Pen 2, along with Luc, where we had 12 penguins and 2 cape gannets. The morning was quite busy, after our supervisor gave medication to a few penguins with wounds, we put the penguins and the gannets in the pool to swim. There are three different types of swimmers at SANCCOB - 1 hour swimmers who swim for a minimum of 1 hour but can stay in longer if choose to, 20 minute swimmers and those who are not forced to swim for any set length of time. The reason for this is that some penguins' feathers are not yet waterproof and cannot stay in the cold water for long. Today Nola, the vet at SANCCOB came to Pen 2 to weigh the birds, do blood work, and check their feathers to decide whether or not the birds are ready to be released. Five penguins passed the test as well as our two gannets. The release will be done tomorrow, but I will probably not have the opportunity to be go out for this one. I still have almost 5 weeks left so I'm quite sure there will be other chances. After Nola was done with birds, it was time for the morning feeding. To feed the gannets we put them in the pool and throw fish at them - quite easy. Penguins on the other hand are not so easy to feed as I learned today. Both Luc and I had the chance to feed penguins for our first time today. My first few tries didn't work so well as I was getting used to putting the fish into their throats properly and also holding their beak so they don't move around too much. Some penguins will eat the fish really well while others you literally have to push down their throats until just the tail of the fish is left. By the afternoon feeding I started to feel more comfortable and was much more successful. I do however still have lots of work to do in catching the penguins quickly without them biting my ungloved hand. The other volunteers make it look so easy, but I have to remind myself that they were all new at one time. Practice makes perfect and I'm sure after 6 weeks at SANCCOB catching and feeding penguins will be easy.

Chocolate and Wine - Two of my Favourite Things!

Mmmm I love wine : ) Today I went on a winelands tour through AVIVA with 10 other volunteers from the various programs. We started our tour off by visiting the Waterford Estate winery in the Stellenbosch region where we had the opportunity to try 6 different wines. The first was probably my favourite wine of the day called Mary Rose. The next two were reds, one of which was one of the worst wines I've ever tried, tasted a little like a wet campfire (that is really the only way to describe it.) The last three were paired up with three different chocolates. The first two were reds paired with two different types of dark chocolate and were really delicious. The third was a dessert wine which was way to sweet for my liking and was paired with a milk chocolate that tasted like soap (also not to my liking.)

The next stop of the day was to the Cheetah Outreach program where I had the opportunity to pet a cheetah and have my picture taken with it. Was very rushed so I only got to pet it for about 30 seconds but it was still a neat thing to do and the entry fee went to the program which helps save cheetahs from poachers. Next we went for lunch in a lovely little town just outside of Stellenbosch. The town was built with a lot of French influence and it really shows in the architecture and looks very different than the other parts of Cape Town and surrounding area that I have seen so far. What I loved most was that the area was surrounded by these incredible mountain ranges and huge grape fields.

The next stop was another winery where we were able to choose 6 wines to try from a very extensive list. I tried a variety of whites, reds and a dessert wine. Generally I'm not a fan of dessert wine (including the one I had earlier in the day) but the one I tried at the second winery was quite lovely and tasted almost like fresh peach juice. At this winery we were also able to taste different cheeses with our wine. The name a selection of the wines was Goats on a Roam so of course they had goats at the winery! We also passed by a lot of other wineries in the region (there about about 200 in the area) some of which had pet wildebeasts, zebras and ostriches - certainly not your average house or farm pet.

The last stop was another winery about two minutes down the road where we were served 7 wines very similar to the first winery we visited - 1 rose, 2 whites, 3 reds and a dessert wine. I enjoyed all of them, but there were none that jumped out at me as being spectacular or unique.

Overall a very enjoyable day. One week down already!!

Table Mountain - What a View!

Two more busy exciting days have passed since my last post. Yesterday went completely different than I had originally thought. When I went into work my team was told that we would be working with a group of conservation officers to catch zebras in an area where they are overpopulated. We were of course very excited about this and everyone who wasn't part of my team was very jealous. When we arrived at the conservation area we told that the group had left without us and that we could just clean up garbage along the beach instead. We cleaned up for about one hour and then left. Apparantly there are people who are paid weekly to do that and they clearly were not doing a good job. We went back to SANCCOB at 9:30 and were told we could take the rest of the day off. Because I was already going to be off for 3 days I wanted to stay. I told them I hadn't yet worked with the penguins and was really interested in getting started. I stayed for 3 hours and learned how to pick the penguins up and pass them to someone. Despite what you might think, penguins are not cute and cuddly (just cute.) Even with a glove on I still managed to get some bruises on my hand, not looking forward to getting bit where I'm not wearing arm guards or gloves. After I left work for the day I was planning on going shopping to pick up a few things, but found out that a group of the volunteers were planning on climbing Table Mountain so I decided to go with them instead. Our taxi ended up being an hour and a half late so by the time we got there we only had two hours left to hike up in order to catch the last cable car down from the mountain. I made it about 30 minutes up and then realized I was too slow and tired and there was no way I was going to make it up in time. I decided to hike back down and take the cable car both up and down instead. Being on top of Table Mountain was incredible. The view from both sides, whether looking down on Cape Town or looking at the 12 Apostles, is stunning. Because my group was hiking the whole way I ended up being alone the entire time, but asked many friendly tourists to take pictures of me on my camera. I met up with my group just in time for the cable car ride down. After our trip we were all too tired to cook so we just ordered pizza instead and then went to bed early.

Today was another busy day. Many of us had the day off so we decided to go on a bus sightseeing tour. They were calling for rain all day but we got lucky and just had overcast instead. The first stop on our tour was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Unfortunately because it's winter there wasn't much to see because most of the plants were dead, but I still learned some new things. The next stop was the World of Birds sanctuary which has thousands of birds, monkeys and other animals. We were only there for about an hour and a half but I could easily have spent a whole day there. Many of the enclosures you were able to get quite close to the birds because they were not fenced in. The next stop was the Imizamo Yethu township, one of approximately 140 townships across the Cape Town area. We were given a guided tour by one of the residents named Ken. We were able to go into a couple of the houses and see how the people there live. There were many kids running around, trying to get our attention and some would even run up and give us hugs. Certainly made me appreciate what I have. We ended our tour where we started which was the V&A Waterfront which has many shops, restaurants, buskers and of course lots of boats. After walking around for a couple of hours we returned to the AVIVA house where we were prepared a delicious pasta dinner by the Italiens. I've been so spoiled this past week, don't know what I'll do when they leave!

Dogs Need Love Too

Just got home early from my third day of work. Yesterday was basically the same as day 1, I was assigned to Pen 1, the aviary and general duties. Yesterday I was actually able to catch the large gulls myself (although not that well.) Once I realize that I am not going to pop their heads off or break their wings I will be a pro. I haven't yet had the chance to work with penguins, but I was able to pet one of the permanent residents, Rocky the rockhopper penguin. Unlike the African penguins at the centre, Rocky is very friendly and will even let you pick her up. She is sometimes brought around to schools to teach kids about penguins.

Today was quite different from my first two days. Generally this is a very busy time of year at SANCCOB because the winter months are windy which often washes oil ashore and oils numerous penguins and other seabirds. This winter has been a little different and at the moment there are too many volunteers and not enough penguins to keep everyone busy. Because of this, SANCCOB has found other conservation type volunteer projects around Cape Town to keep the volunteers busy. Today I was volunteering at a dog and cat shelter about 40 minutes away from SANCCOB. There were five volunteers and one staff member working there today. Our task was to build a-frame type dog houses because all of the dogs are in fences outside. We were able to complete two dog houses and then we ran out of nails so we finished a little early. Tomorrow I have been assigned to volunteer at the Blouberg Conservation Area. Not sure what I will be doing there yet by stay tuned for information in my next blog update : )

First Day at SANCCOB

Rocky the rockhopper penguin




Mmm chopped fish and dog food formula


Day 3 in South Africa and I'm finally settling in. The first couple of days here were a little slow and uneventful. Went to the grocery store a couple times so I can pack a lunch and make myself dinner at home. Watched a couple movies to pass the time and tried to get lots of sleep. The six hour time difference has really gotten to me, but I'm hoping once I get into a routine at work that I will adjust.

The fun started today as it was my first day of work. Because it was my first day I was given a ride to work by Megan our volunteer coordinator. Luc, a volunteer from Holland who just arrived last night also started work today so I was happy to not be the only new one. After today I will be walking to and from work everyday which is about a 20 minute walk. To start the day off all the staff and volunteers meet to find out who will be responsible for which tasks for the day. Luc and I were paired up with Ruth and Renae, two AVIVA volunteers who have been at SANCCOB for 4 and 5 weeks already. The first task of the day was to clean Pen 1 which houses 'flying birds' so mostly gulls, that are at the moment unable to fly due to injuries. Before the pen can be cleaned the birds need to be put into boxes where they stay until the pen is all cleaned. I learned quicly that their status can change from one day to the next. Within a few minutes of starting this task one of the gulls escaped. The centre of course is enclosed, but it took five volunteers to finally catch him. I was told not to worry as this is a weekly occurance. This was good news for the gull though as it means he is getting better as will soon be ready for release. Because he is now able to fly the gull was moved into the avery, but had to be re-tagged so I had the pleasure of holding him while the was done. It was a little intimidating at first because it felt like I was going to break him, but I was told I was doing just fine. This was my only hands-on encounter with any birds today. After cleaning Pen 1 it was on to preparing fish tail platters for the various birds at the centre. This involved cutting the heads off of sardines and cutting up other parts into little chunks - mmm delicious. I was also on general duties so I spent a large part of the day cleaning pools, doing laundry, preparing fish tail platters, washing mats and preparing formula (blended fish chunks, canned dog food and vitamins) for the birds in ICU. It was such a busy day with so much to learn and this is only the beginning, I haven't even begun working with the penguins.

After work a bunch of the AVIVA volunteers went out to dinner at a restaurant right across the road from Blouberg beach. As were we eating we watched the sunset, it was incredible. The sunsets here are unlike any I have ever seen before.

So overall it was a very eventful day. It is getting late and I have another busy day ahead of me so it's off to bed!

Hello From South Africa!!

After two long travel days I have finally arrived in Cape Town. The first flight from Toronto to London with Air Canada was quite cozy. Nice comfy seats (including an empty seat beside me) and individual tv's on each seat with lots of movies and shows to choose from. After seven hours of flying I arrived in London at 6:30am local time (1:30am). I had debated going into London for a few hours to check out the sights, but by the time we arrived I was already quite tired and it was raining so I decided to just stick around the airport. 14 hours in an airport is a very long time!! I walked around the shops for about the first hour and then found myself a bench and slept for a few hours. When I woke up I just wandered around some more, read my book and chatted with various people. The second flight from London to Cape Town with South African Airways was not as comfortable. The aircraft was older, smaller and only had one movie for the entire 12 hour flight (they were supposed to have two others, but they only had them available in German.) Even though I was uncomfortable, I was still just as excited to get here. I was lucky enough to have a window seat and even luckier that the weather is amazing today!! The photo above was taken as we were flying over Cape Town, getting ready for our approach. The photo below was flying over a massive dessert somewhere over Africa. Not sure where exactly, but it was an amazing sight to see.

So I'm here now, excited, tired and a little overwhelmed. As soon as I arrived I was picked up by someone from the AVIVA team and brought to the house where I will be staying for the next 6 weeks. He had to pick some other volunteers up, so I had a very quick tour of the house before he had to leave. A couple of the volunteers were at the house and invited me to go the mall with them which is just a quick 15 minute walk away. I picked myself up some groceries to get me through the first few days, which was quite difficult. The selection here is very different from what I'm used to and it was also the first time using South African currency. I was very sad to find out that I can't buy tofu at the grocery stores here, it's one of my main food items!! Something I will just have to get used to...

I'm back at the house now, getting myself settled in and plan to take a nap very soon. There is a time difference of 6 hours and I'm still tired from all the travelling (I never sleep well on planes.) The other volunteers will be getting back to the house soon so I'm hoping to get a bit of sleep before it get loud. I'm sharing a room with 6 other girls for the time being, but it can fit up to 14. I was also told they might move me to another room at some point because all of the volunteers who are working at SANCCOB are in a different room. Right now I'm sharing a room with the Home of Hope orphanage volunteers who get up much earlier than the SANCCOB volunteers. I have a bottom bunk so I'm pretty happy with where I am : )

Tomorrow is my orientation which I've been told won't take long at all so not sure what I'll be doing for the rest of the day. Hoping to check out the area. Will post again soon!

Goodbye For Now Kirkland Lake

Today is my final day in Kirkland Lake and a busy one it will be. Tomorrow I am making the trip down to Trenton to visit friends and family before heading off on July 30th, but before I can do that there are some last minute things I need to do. Luckily I have finished packing (after sitting amongst a massive pile of clothes for about 7 hours trying to decide what is really necessary.) Now I have a bunch of little chores left to do; clean out the car, do laundry; go say goodbye to friends, and other little errands around town. Yesterday was also a busy day. I started it off by dropping off rolls of change at the bank that I had from my bake sale last month and also change that I had been collecting for the last 5 years for something special (I figured a trip to South Africa was pretty special!) I had 28 rolls just in pennies!! Next I went to Canadian Tire where I purchased a new day trip pack. Not only was the bag I wanted on sale, but I also had over $43.00 in Canadian Tire money so I got it for practically nothing : ) It was a good thing the store wasn't overly busy and I knew the girl at the counter, so she didn't mind counting all the bills, especially since over 50% were only 5 cents! Came home and groomed the dogs and then spent the second half of the day packing.

A big thank you goes out to my friend Beth who has been a huge support since I first considered embarking on a volunteer abroad opportunity. It was actually while I was staying at her apartment back in April that I started researching different organizations and came across AVIVA. We sat and watched videos and read information about it and she told me just to go for it! To help me save costs she lent me the luggage I will be taking to S.A. and yesterday she graciously offered to drive me to the airport next Friday!! I'm so excited, I always look forward to Margaret and Beth road trips!! Thank you so much Beth, you're so wonderful!!

Well goodbye Kirkland Lake, Southern Ontario here I come!!!

Only 10 days until I leave!

To Pack This or Not to Pack That

I've never been very good at packing whether it's for a day, night, weekend, week, month or in this case two months!! 99.9% of the time I pack too much and end up lugging around things that I never end up using. With just a few days left until I head down to Trenton to visit family and friends before I go, I must make up my mind about what to bring. I am currently going through the thought process of different occasions when I might need a certain item of clothing.

For example:

• I will be working approximately 5 days a week with penguins and dead fish therefore I will need a clean set of clothes everyday.
  
• I will have my evenings as well as a couple days a week free to do various outings such as hiking, cultural tours and visiting restaurants and will therefore need a few selections.
  
• During my final week in S.A. I will be doing a tour of the Cape which includes various activities ranging from a visit to a brewery, zip-lining and going on a safari.
  
• Lastly, I will be in S.A. during their winter. I have been told to pack plenty of warm clothes as it gets very "cold" in the evenings and that it will probably be too cold for swimming at the beaches. Now their definition of cold is 8-10 degrees, but after spending the last 2 years in Northern Ontario, 8-10 degrees sounds like a usual summer morning. They will know I'm Canadian because I will probably be the only one relaxing at the beach!

It also doesn't help that I'm a Libra and therefore always have trouble making decisions. Pack, repack, pack, repack - this will be my life for the next few days!!!

Just 13 days until I leave!

One Adventure Ends, Another Begins!

After two exciting years working for Katimavik, I am officially done. I stepped off the bus in Kirkland Lake yesterday at 8:40am after spending four great days with my colleagues for the last time. After handing in my office equipment and meeting with various managers at our Regional Office in Ottawa, I spent the rest of my day with Brigitte, whom I had done the Katimavik program with as a volunteer in 2005/2006. I found it appropriate to finish my Katimavik journey with someone I had started with.

These last couple of months with Katimavik were very long as we were busy shutting down four communities in North Eastern Ontario. Now that my contract is over I can start to focus on getting ready for next big adventure, my trip to South Africa. With this being my first time travelling overseas I feel a little overwhelmed right now and keep thinking that there is a lot that I'm forgetting to do/pack/research/etc. I'm sure once I start packing it will all fall into place. Just three weeks from today until I arrive in Cape Town!

I also want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me so far, both financially and personally. This volunteer trip would simply not be possible without you!!!

The Cape Gannet

Although SANCCOB primarily rehabilitates African penguins, they also care for and rehabilitate other species as well. One of these is the cape gannet which is listed as a Vulnerable species.

In May and June, SANCCOB received close to 150 abandonned chicks and juveniles which they are currently caring for at the centre. In November a massive thunder storm destroyed all of the nests. The parents laid eggs again which resulted in a late breeding season and then had to leave for their annual migration. The chicks will have to be hand-reared at the centre for approximately one month and then they will be ready to be released back into the wild. This means that this batch of chicks will most likely be released before I arrive. SANCCOB sometimes receives adult cape gannets that have been injured or oiled so I may still see one of these beautiful birds while I am volunteering there.

SANCCOB Quarterly Newsletter

SANCCOB's quarterly newsletter "The Penguin Pages" is up and running. The most important news is the recent announcement that the African Penguin has been re-classified from being Vulnerable to Endangered. This makes the hard work done by SANCCOB and their volunteers (including me!) that much more important. SANCCOB's main goal is to limit mortality of this species by rehabilitating and releasing them back into the wild.

To read "The Penguin Pages" go to http://www.graphicmail.co.za/sanccob

Beautiful Pins for Sale

This is a collection of the beautiful pins that my mom is selling to help in my fundraising efforts. As you can see there's a wide selection to choose from and she has other styles and colours available as well.

The cost is just $10.00. If you are in Trenton or the surrounding area and are interested in purchasing a pin, please contact me for details at margaret_ogden@yahoo.com.

SANCCOB

Here is a short clip about the centre where I will be working:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEHX2YykvV8

First Fundraiser was a Huge Success!!

On Thursday I held a bake sale in Kirkland Lake (my first official fundraiser!!) I sold a pie while loading it into my car in the morning so it was definitely a good start to the day. I managed to sell pretty much everything and received a lot of support and donations.

Thank you so much to Pearl, Lise, Lindsay, Jody and Keisha for donating your time to make such wonderful baked goods and for coming out yesterday to show your support. I couldn't have done it without you!!

Definitely a huge success!!

The Adventure Begins!!

Thank you for visiting my blog. I decided to start this blog to keep everyone up to date on my volunteer adventure to South Africa this summer, both before I leave and while I'm away. I will be posting my preparation details, fundraising events and of course how things are going while I'm in South Africa with the penguins : )
I will be in South Africa from July 30th-September 20th. Please check back regularily for updates.