Margot Knight is a writer and editor for the Guest House Association of South Africa (GHASA). She also works for WebGrowth, a Cape-based search engine optimisation company. This blog was originally published on the GHASA website.

I was invited to view the Two Oceans Aquarium’s newest function venue and I was in for a wonderful surprise. Included in my visit was a personal tour and a behind-the-scenes look at the Aquarium.

The venue is called Tranquility. The first thing you notice as you enter the room is a huge underwater world that interrupts the opposite wall, and in this world, various fish swim nonchalantly around giant kelp fronds. What atmosphere is inspired by this spectacular view if not tranquility?

My guide for the morning, Renar Wheeler, explained that this venue was once a staffroom. They added mirrors and refurbished the floor, and now the venue can hold 15 people when seated and 30 for a small function like a cocktail party.

If resting your nose against the enormous acrylic panel of the I&J Predator Exhibit is not close and personal enough for you, scuba diving in its tank sure will be. And, unlike other shark-related scuba diving activities, no cage is required!

We then went to the Kelp Forest Exhibit and I learnt more about what I had glimpsed from within Tranquility. This beautiful underwater forest is home to fish, sea urchins and rock lobsters that swim this way and that as they explore every secret hideaway. Visitors can submerge themselves in this enchanting underwater wilderness if they wish, as advanced scuba diving is also offered in this exhibit.

It was a wonderful surprise when Renar led me out a back door and I found myself looking down on Ivan, the king penguin, and her rockhopper penguin friends. (Yes, Ivan is female – her sex was only discovered after she got her name. Penguins have no external genitals, so determining their sex is a complicated process.)

To my delight, the penguins answered Renar’s calls and waddled right up to the gate, at which point I was able to run my hand along their feathery coats.

These adorable marine birds now form part of a new Aquarium experience. The brand new Penguin Encounter allows two guests to spend 30 minutes with Ivan and seven rockhopper penguins.

The encounter takes place in the Aquarium’s outdoor pool and will vary according to how the penguins feel about the temporary additions to their home. From what I saw, guests will be able to get comfortably close to these friendly penguins.

Then I met the African penguins. Renar held on to Zuki and let me to capture her in a photograph before the bird grew tired of another paparazza and indicated with a few flaps of her flippers that she was ready to rejoin her parents, Chuck and Belinda.

Sadly, my tour of the Aquarium had to come to an end, but I felt rather chuffed that I had seen the animals in ways not many people were able to. With a gorgeous new venue available, the upcoming Penguin Encounter, and many wonderful exhibits on offer, it’s no wonder the Two Oceans Aquarium remains as popular as ever with Capetonians and visitors alike.