Hello September, thank you for joining us.

Just over a month and a half ago I was lucky enough to be treated to go and experience swimming with the ocean exhibit as a birthday gift from my brother. It was such an incredible thing experiencing life from the perspective of a sea animal. Sounds so cool, right? Well, it was!

Before our morning had even begun I was lucky enough to be greeted by a pod of common dolphins in the marina, next to the aquarium. Of course, the dolphins shouldn’t have been there as it’s not entirely safe for them but authorities were alerted early and the dolphins made it out safely! It was still a beautiful sight to see.

Two Oceans aquarium offer an ocean experience for their visitors where they take you through the ins and outs of the aquarium, they show you where the food is prepped for all the kinds of sea life and so much more! Did you know that the aquarium cultures their own jellyfish? ME NEITHER! My mind too, was blown. The lovely lady, Thalita who took my brother and I on this excursion was telling us how jellyfish have very set stages of their life just like a butterfly, it’s quite incredible actually.

Moments before we got into our wetsuits to go swimming in the ocean exhibit we were taken to the turtle rehab and quarantine where they have baby turtles that were saved off the coast not so long ago – it was a very precious sight. Upon entrance we had to sanitize our hands so we didn’t bring all the germs we had on us with us, protocol. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to touch the turtles that were in quarantine because they were still too young and susceptible to diseases but we still admired them from afar! What I found really cool was the rooftop garden that the aquarium has to feed their turtles, they had lettuce and spinach, leafy greens – all the good stuff!

One of the great things about the two oceans aquarium is that they don’t force the animals to come to you through bribing them with food or anything like that, they say that if the animals want to come to you, they will and when they’ve had enough they’ll mosey on out. One of my many favourite parts of the day was engaging with the sea turtles and getting to experience the sea life from in the water. II didn’t realise nor did i think turtles were so loving. Sandy and Bob, the turtles in the exhibit absolutely loved being cuddled and getting scratches on their bellies and back. I very quickly got attached to these creatures so I can just imagine how the in-house experts and workers feel about them!

Then after a little bit of play time with the turtles we got the privilege to put on our snorkel and mask and look at the other sea life in the exhibit. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit petrified of the short-tailed stingrays because they appear out of nowhere but I quickly overcame that fear when I realised that they aren’t harmful and really are beautiful creatures! There are over 200 different types of fish swimming around the ocean exhibit, it was honestly such a spectacle.

The whole experience was about an hour and a half long, being in the exhibit for roughly around 30 minutes, although it really was too short definitely worth it! The in-house-experts really have all the information they need to answer any questions you have and they also enlighten you about the threats that some of these animals face, including their turtle rehabilitation and release-work that they do constantly.

It was an honor having experienced something so incredible as that. I think back to it now and am still in awe of how lovely the staff were, how loving the turtles were and the feeling I got experiencing all those animals up close and personal.

I 100% recommend you to put this on your list of to-do’s in Cape Town! It was honestly one of the best days of my year so far! If you’d like to check it out you can go onto the Two Oceans Aquarium link here and it’ll give you all the information you need regarding bookings and what to bring etc.

I hope this has made you want to go and experience the ocean exhibit for yourself, it definitely has me wanting to go again! If you enjoy more lifestyle type blog posts, comment below or send me a dm on my instagram telling me what sort of lifestyle posts you’d like to see in the future!

Do you ever have those moments where you are in absolute awe of the life you are living? Where time has stopped and you realise that the world is so big and you are so small? Well, this was one of those moments.

Kaskazi Kayaks gave me one of those experiences I will never forget. Located right off three anchor bay, with the breathtaking view of the blue gem drops of the ocean and the tiny sandy shore.

Arriving there I had no idea what to expect, I went in with no preconceived idea of how it should be or what should happen. As soon as I walked in, I felt like I was at home. The guides that were taking a group of us out on the trip were full of life and laughter. The banter (if you will) was unreal, I spent most of the time giggling while bobbing around the ocean, taking in the City we live in and visiting the inhabitants of the Atlantic.

After our morning briefing from the lead guide, we set off to the bay, got our kayaks and began our journey. We paddled (with ease might I add) around the lighthouse point (Mouille Point) and into the bay in front of the Radisson Hotel (Granger Bay). It is one of the rare occasions where you get to see Devil’s peak, Table Mountain, Signal Hill AND Lion’s Head all in the same frame. It’s one of those sights you could never get tired of looking at, picturesque really.

Nevermind the fact that it was the first time I had ever been out at sea in a kayak, it was also my first time EVER seeing a pod of dolphins (I know right, been living in Cape Town my whole life and have never seen a pod of dolphins before!? Crazy) and honestly, what a first way to experience it. We were only a few metres away from these magnificent sea creatures. If you ask me, I would call it aqua paradise.

Unfortunately these mammals move so quickly, we weren’t able to capture the moment this time round but what we did manage to capture was the cutest little jelly fish and baby sunfish that we saw on our way back to the bay.

Some of the sea life we managed to capture.

What is so incredible about kayaking out at sea is not only do you get to see the views but you never know what animals you will come across. I was chatting to one of the guides and they were saying that there are whales in the bay between Noordhoek and Kommetjie and they could (hopefully) be passing through their bay any day now which is incredible, makes me want to go book more paddles just so I could have the chance of witnessing it!

Overall, the experience I endured was nothing like I have ever experienced before. It’s a great way to get outdoors and to see a different part of the city. It’s a good holiday activity for family, friends, tourists and sometimes they even have the shops doggies come along on paddles with you! I would recommend this to anyone. I would score it a strong 11/10!

To make bookings or if you have any questions, you can DM Kaskazi Kayaks on any one of their social platforms by clicking the links below:

Instagram: @kaskazikayaks

Twitter: @kaskazicapetown

Facebook page: @KaskaziKayakTrips / Kazkasi Kayaks & Adventures

Website: kayak.co.za

The guides I went with:

Grant & Oreo, best guys!

I hope you got excited to go for a paddle with them as I am to go for a second one! If you are interested in what else I get up to this holiday, follow me on Instagram @jeannakenchington or twitter @jakenchington.

Thank you for all your continued support and love, it means the world to me!

Chat to you soon,

Jeanna Xx

*Mini disclaimer: I have not been asked to make a blog post about Kaskazi Kayaks, I am just in love with the experience I had with them and wanted to share it with you!