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.
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!
Save the Penguins
Terry also taught us about the current crisis for the penguins’ existence. Their food supply is diminishing due to overfishing of anchovies, sardines and other key components of their diet. Terry’s group is working to educate people and help protect this beautiful species. It was a pleasure to take a tour with him knowing that some of our money is going to such a good cause.
Terry’s team has already helped the penguins by protecting them from the hordes of tourists who visit daily. His group erected a boardwalk for viewing, thus keeping people off the beach and out of the penguins way. As you can imagine, people were getting way too close to the penguins and trying to take selfies with them, etc. The boardwalk goes a long way to protecting their habitat, and people can still get their photos.
We were so happy we booked this tour and highly recommend kayaking with penguins.
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Oh I’ve always wanted to go here! I heard it was so beautiful. Great to see you had such a lovely time seeing all the wildlife. Looks so interesting ????
This sounds like such an amazing experience!
Yes, the guide had so much knowledge and experience and respect for the wildlife. It was wonderful
This definitely sounds like a bucket list excursion! I absolutely love penguins and this is just the cutest thing!
I haven’t been kayaking in ages but would love to go again, especially to see penguins!! <3 This looks like so much fun!
Such an incredible experience!! Definitely adding to my bucket list
So cool! I love to watch wildlife! And Penguins are so cute! I never did yome kayaking yet but I´d like to try it! May be on my next trip there is a possibility!