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!