How to Feed Your Gannet

How to feed your Gannet, by Jeanette.

My Gannet for the day

Step 1. Hold your Gannet securely by the head and wings. Don`t forget your green overalls, in case of surprise poop.

Step 2. Find a nice seat and double check your list to see how many fish he gets.

Step 3: Wriggle him in between your legs.

Step 4: Simultaneously open the Gannet`s mouth wide and grab a fish.

Step 5: Try your best to hold on to his beak as he tries to wiggle out of your grasp!

Step 6: Fish number 1, down the hatch!

Step 7: Repeat as necessary.

Step 8: One full Gannet.

Thanks to Matthew for taking the pics!

Cape Town, I think I'm falling in love with you!

I've been in Cape Town for almost two weeks now, and I am just absolutely loving this place! There are mountains on one side, beautiful white sandy beaches on the other, and the bustling city is sandwiched right in the middle. There is always something to do and outdoorsy stuff is the specialty here. This is the type of place where you could climb a mountain in the morning and go surfing in the afternoon. My kind of place!!

So today I decided to do something a little adventurous... I went paragliding!! Basically it's flying through the air attached to a big parachute. The wind conditions were perfect for launching from the beach near my house using a motorized paraglider, so I met up with the pilots in the morning, and we got ready for our flight!

Dad, I wore my helmet!

All ready to go!

 We flew over the beaches for about half an hour and I had an incredible view of the city, ocean and mountains. It wasn't scary at all once you were up there. It just felt relaxing and calm. Until my pilot decided to do some crazy dips haha!

Look who's in control!

I also got to drive a scooter along the beach... it went 60k/hr... woohoo!

And I got a ride on their bike! ZOOM ZOOM!

I had such a fun day today!

Thanks Setfan and ParaPax Paragliders!

I've been having lots of fun doing other stuff as well around town. A few days ago I went up to the top of Table Mountain and hiked around for a bit, taking in the amazing views of the city.

Then I went to check out the beach.

I also went on a harbour boat cruise and saw some really cool stuff.

Bottle nosed Dolphin

Seal, just chillin in a tire.

The boat driver joked that she was my mom, I thought it was more funny than she did, obviously!

Then I checked out the aquarium downtown.

Giant eel!

Seahorses are so cool, is it weird that I want to be one?

baby moon jellies

Biggest crab ever!!!

I found Nemo! Lots of Nemos!

Ragged tooth shark... thankfully behind lots of protective glass this time.

 

 

Some other random amazing stuff around Cape Town:

 

Giant lego man on the waterfront

Cool ferris wheel also on the waterfront

I sat and listened to this band for about half an hour they were so good!

This dog. Best of life.

The view from a city bus tour I did... amazingly beautiful.
When can I move here?

 

Diving with Great White Sharks!

Today was my first day off from working with the penguins, so I decided to go Shark Cage Diving!

I had to get up super early for the 2 hour drive to Gansbaai, but it was a really beautiful drive through wineries and amazing mountains. The absolutely spectacular pink sunrise lighting the scenery didn't hurt either! The beauty of this country keeps astounding me at every turn.

So we got out on the boat, and within 10 minutes we saw the first Great White Shark swim by!

First shark sighting of the day!

Me and my new friends realizing we now have to get in the water with that thing!

 

 So we hopped in our wetsuits and got in the cage. It was a big metal cage with bars that honestly looked like a shark could bite right through them, but they do this all the time right? It has to be safe... right??!!!

Me getting ready!

Krystle going for it!
 

But the cage was attached to the boat and you just had to hold your breath and pop under the water for a few seconds when the sharks swam by, or towards you!!

OMG there's a shark!

 

The famous fin, cue the music from Jaws!

WHOA! There's a shark right behind me!

 

 So soon it was my turn into the cage...

And the sharks came close.. it felt like their fins were going to come into the cage at times!

Please don't eat me!

 

 

The tour baited the water with tuna fish gut juice and tuna heads, but they don't actually feed the sharks so that they don't become accustomed to food from humans. But we learned that there are only an estimated 1000 Great White Sharks left in the wild. This is because humans hunt them fearing that they are a danger, and for shark fin soup. In reality there are more people killed by dolphins each year than sharks!!! Please people, we need to save these beautiful creatures instead of persecuting them. I <3 sharks.

 

Look at that fin!