This certainly beats having a day job!

The view of Table Mountain from Dolphin Beach, walking distance from the house in Table View

Cape Town in the background, near the start of the cableway up Table Mountain. It was too windy to ride the cable way up to the summit, but I'm planning on it sometime soon.

I've gotten crazy busy (aka lazy) and need to play catch up on the latest events, so here goes:

Two day total of bites: 3, 2 that drew a teeny tiny bit of blood

Two day total of times I've been pooped on: Immeasurable. I've accepted that while I'm working, I more likely than not am covered in guano. The sound that is made when the penguins poop is hilarious though - I swear it sounds like it should be straight out of a cartoon. 

Summary: South Africa is awesome and penguins are incredible, (and stronger than one would think).

So lets see, I worked on Thursday and Friday. Thursday I was in Pen 2 - this is the pen where they house birds that aren't quite ready for release or have just been moved out of the ICU. 

I worked with two lovely ladies, one a former Brit who's living in South Africa longer than she did in the UK, and another Cape Town native. They were both lovely and very helpful. I also got a kick out of how the referred to me as "love" all day. For example, "Could you get the water, love?" or "Would you mind hosing the guano off the mats, love?" 

Along with that, they were both seasoned vets when it came to working with and handling the birds. I learned quite a bit from both of them, and they were great in helping me get more comfortable with the little guys. 

The next day, I was back in ICU and I put the skills I acquired during the week to good use. I finally handled, fed, and tubed all on my own! It's amazing how much more comfortable I feel with the birds than I did when I started. To be honest, I was scared out of my wits at first! But now, it's really fun! And I have a great sense of accomplishment after a successful feed/tubing. Granted, I haven't tried working with any of the adult birds that are at full health yet, those buggers are much stronger than you'd think and their beaks pack quite the bite. 

I had my first and only weekend off, so I got to do a bit of exploring around the city, which was very fun. I took one of those open top bus tours with a fellow volunteer, Jon. Our day was cut a bit short after lunch in Camps Bay, when the weather went from lovely and sunny to windy as hell and rainy. Still, was a nice way to get around the city. The next day was spent wandering around Dolphin beach and watching the kite surfers and taking in the incredible view of Table Mountain.

I will DEFINITELY publish more picture of penguins soon - for now though, it's time for bed and my internet connection's speed is driving me nuts.