Two Oceans Aquarium Environmental Education Centre P.A. to Head of Education Katja Rockstroh is on the road this week, live-tweeting and blogging from the annual Waddle for a Week for the African penguin.

After an amazing night’s sleep in two very relaxing and serene venues, the waddlers were eager to get back on the road on April 23 and start leg two of the week – Stanford to Hermanus.

One of our accommodation venues was Reiersvlei Farm, an amazing Cape Dutch house with wonderful views of mountains and the vlei. Thank you to Mandy and Mark Erwee for a lovely stay.
Our other overnight venue was Mosaic Farm’s Duminy Cottage – thank you to Marcelino and Simone. Mosaic Farm has been one of our supporters for all three waddles, for which we are very grateful. We also enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Spookhuis Café on the farm (“Spookhuis” is Afrikaans for “Spook House” – the building is rumoured to be haunted).

After packing both vehicles – something one has to learn to do very well, very quickly – we set off on our 24km stint to Hermanus.

Dave from Saxon Lodge joined us for the day. Well done on doing all 24km!
The waddlers made great progress, covering the first 8km with ease.
Meanwhile, our trusted support vehicles, sponsored by Chrysler Jeep Newlands, waited, ready to supply waddlers with water, snacks and any first aid. First aid could include anything from dealing with blisters (because, oh boy, do we get many of those) to treating sore muscles.
Hayley and Gabby, the founders of Penguin Promises, waddle on.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the halfway point.

From left to right: Tarryn Abrahams (uShaka Sea World); Peter Baloi (uShaka Sea World); Gabby Harris (uShaka Sea World); Carol Ellerker (private, from Biggarsberg); Kai Harris (Gabby’s son); and Jane Dlamini (uShaka Sea World).
The team was joined by about 20 Cape Nature staff, who walked us into town.

The waddlers finally made it to Hermanus. Usually, entering a town is time for happiness as it generally means that the waddle is over for the day. On this day, however, the waddlers waddled on, making their way to the Whale Tail Fountain.

While waiting for some home-school children to join us and walk the final 4km, Dave decided it was time for refreshments.
Towards the end of the day’s waddle, alternative transport methods were employed by June Smith, assisted by Gabby Harris and Andrea Cronje.
In the end, we were all happy to arrive in the friendly town of Hermanus. A big thank you to the home-school children and mothers who joined us and got our hoot count up.

Join us!

Day three involves a waddle from Hermanus to the Arabella Sheraton Hotel just outside of Kleinmond. Please join us – for the full 24km if you are keen, or even just for 1km, if so inclined. We have decided to make it a silent walk, giving everyone an opportunity to reflect on what this waddle is all about (however, with this bunch, being silent may be more difficult for some than others).

Again, if you are in a car driving along this route, please hoot! The total number of hoots on day two was 661, with 1 679 cars driving past. That is a “success rate” of only 37%. However, that means that at least 661 people are a bit more aware about the plight African penguins than they were before they drove past us.

For those of you unable to join us, please follow us on our Twitter page, or go check out www.penguinpromises.com and make your Penguin Promise.

Thank you to our sponsors:

• Reiersvlei Farm – www.reiersvlei.co.za
• Mosaic Farm – www.mosaicfarm.net
• Cape Nature
• Two Oceans Aquarium
• uShaka Marine World
• Chrysler Jeep Newlands
• Brands For Change

Stay in touch: For daily Aquarium updates, follow us on Twitter (@2OceansAquarium) and become a fan on Facebook.