Category: Travel

Kayaking With Penguins on the Western Cape

One of the most memorable and fun experiences of our South Africa trip was kayaking south of Cape Town. After our time in the city, we needed another opportunity to commune with nature and animals, so we took a guided tour of the beach home to cape fur seals and penguins in Simon’s Town. We loved kayaking with penguins on the Western Cape. You can do it too!

Paddle with Penguins

The two hour tour is called Paddle with the Penguins.  That much time spent on a kayak in the bay allowed us to see penguins and more wildlife. We were really lucky with the weather, which was warm and cloudy, and the sea, which was calm.

Our guide, Terry, a marine conservationist with Shark Warrior Adventure Centre, was a trove of information about the penguins. He also led us near seals and sea birds and told us all about these marine animals and their home in Simon’s Town, all while guiding 8 of us through the very calm but busy waters of False Bay.

kayaking with penguins western cape tour
Getting ready to kayak False Bay
And Seals!

The seals came as a complete surprise to us, and they were beautiful and plentiful! Many seals were lying on the rocks, and some of them swam around our kayaks. They are very playful and fun and got quite close to us!

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Spotting the Big Five in Kruger Park

Before I went to Kruger National Park – my first ever safari experience – I was excited to see ANY wild animals. I had heard of “The Big 5” but wasn’t even sure which animals were labelled within that group. We learned from a guide during one of the organized walks that this term originally comes from hunters. As a result, hunters considered the biggest animals the most important for their trophy cases and thus the Big 5 designation was created. We tried to spot the Big five in Kruger Park, with some success.

It is a goal for many safari goers to see all of “The Big 5.” While this wasn’t my goal, the whole park experience pushes that as a priority. Each campsite has a couple of boards where people can mark their daily sightings of these most wanted wild animals, plus some other rare and interesting animals. Except the rhino. Due to these beautiful animals being close to extinction, the park will not advertise sightings of rhinoceros as a way to protect them against poachers. Because of this, a rhino sighting is a tough find.

For the most part, we drove around, did a couple of game walks in the bush, and just enjoyed our sightings of all the animals and birds. But in the back of our minds, especially as the days passed, we did still hope to see all of the Big Five.

Here’s a rundown on our Big Five sightings in Kruger National Park:

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Solo Travel is Hard


It’s only been a week and a half, because I don’t count my time at Spanish school as solo travel. For one, I wasn’t traveling; I was living with a family. And, for another reason, there were other students to hang out with all the time. I was rarely alone. So, I have only been traveling alone for about 10 days, and I am glad it’s almost over. Solo travel is hard.

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