There’s nothing like a week in Cape Town to remind you that Johannesburg (as much as I love it) is without an ocean (let’s leave the mountain out of it, just this once). But there’s nothing like an afternoon at the Two Oceans Aquarium to remind you that the views of the ocean that Cape Town affords tell nothing of the world beneath its surface. And what a world it is.
I’d heard that the Aquarium was undergoing some serious renovations and expansions while I was on holiday in Cape Town, and was concerned that this would affect my visit in some way. These worries, however, were forgotten the moment I entered the building’s liquid walls, and it occurred to me only after I’d left that not a single exhibit had been disrupted. The Aquarium remains a perfectly intact visual phantasmagoria; educational, enlightening and thrilling. Whatever alterations are taking place are being done with a minimum of fuss for visitors, and a maximum of care for the creatures the Aquarium houses.
The creatures themselves were miraculous: captivating jellyfish; impossible giant spider crabs; tuxedo-clad penguins; and enough fish, stingrays, sharks and turtles to satisfy the most insatiable of marine desires. I even had a unique sighting of the Lesser Spotted Tank Cleaner.
My visit coincided with National Water Week, and children from local schools were in abundance – a reflection, I thought, on the wonderful work that the Aquarium does to educate the future custodians of this world, and to encourage them to care for it in every way they can.
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