Being able to play such a crucial role in rehabilitating many penguins and birds is out of this world. I have learnt so much and gained many new skills, that I will for sure use in later life.
Nothing quite beats arriving into a country you have never been to before, especially if its a place as beautiful as Cape Town. Travelling to South Africa was simple and stress free thanks to Chris and the others at The Mighty Roar, who pretty much organised everything for me.
Megan and Michelle (the local team) have been incredibly helpful and have answered all the never ending questions I have thrown at them, including how to get around Cape Town.
"The local team are dedicated to providing the best treatment and to releasing as many penguins back into the sea - where they belong."
Uber is the best way to travel especially if there is three or four of you going together, it works out incredibly cheap. It costs about 170 rand (just under £10) for 4 people to go from the house in Table View to the V&A Waterfront in the city centre, the bus is even cheaper but it does take a lot longer to get there!
The V&A Waterfront is the main port in Cape Town and home to an array of restaurants,
cafes, shops and activities. Inside the harbour itself you can often see the sea lions playing amongst the boats.
There is always something happening in the evening in Cape Town. One of the closest bars that most of the volunteers go to is called the Thirsty Turtle, mainly because its 2 for 1 on Thursday night. Next door there is a night club which many people move onto afterwards although this does have a small entrance fee!
If you are lucky enough to get a Saturday off, the Old Biscuit Mill is well worth a visit and open from 9am to 2pm. As the name suggests its based in and around an old biscuit mill and filled with a huge amount of organic high quality cheap food and drinks – I would definitely recommend the Mac and cheese balls. Normally they have some form of live music on at the same time which gives it a similar feel to a festival.
On the volunteering side you couldn’t ask for a more welcoming group of people to get involved with. You start slowly but within your first few days you are handling the penguins and after a week I am feeding them, which has been an amazing experience. We are given a monthly rota which makes it really easy to plan our days off, which are not hard to organise when you have beautiful sunny days.
Even though I was volunteering for several months, which is longer than most, the time flew by and I really wished I stayed longer! If you like penguins or birds, then I can highly recommend this programme. The local team are dedicated to providing the best treatment and to releasing as many penguins back into the sea.
I cannot praise The Mighty Roar enough and I really appreciate everything they done to make this trip happen.
