wildlife

The Two Oceans Aquarium is Cape Town's world class aquarium showcasing more than 3000 animals including sharks, turtles, seals, crabs, seahorses and many, many more. The exhibits are informative, well maintained and beautiful. Helpful and enthusiastic volunteers are also normally on hand to answer any questions that you may have.

About a 1 hour drive up the West Coast from Cape Town is the West Coast National Park. The park is primarily home to many bird species including thousands of roosting seabirds, but you will also find Tortoises, various buck species, Ostriches and other small animals. Other main attractions are the beautiful Langabaan Lagoon and the spring flowers which carpet the area.

Boulders Beach near Simons Town is a popular swimming spot sheltered by granite rocks and with good views across False Bay. It is particularly popular because it is home to a colony of more than 3,000 African Penguins.

Intaka Island is a 16 hectare bird sanctuary in the heart of Century City (near Canal Walk) and is home to 120 species of birds (70 are seen regularly) and 177 species of indigenous plants. Most of the birds are (predictably) waterbirds

World of Birds is a bird and monkey sanctuary in Hout Bay which is home to more than 3,000 birds of 400+ species. There are over 100 aviaries and walkways where visitors can get up close to eagles, owls, cranes, monkeys, meerkats, and many other birds.

Butterfly World is home to the "largest free flying park for butterflies in Southern Africa". There are literally thousands of colorful butterflies freely flying around an enclosed garden through which visitors are welcome to walk. The area is fairly large and there are many butterflies, from three continents available for viewing in the various stages of their lives.

Spier wine estate (home to Moyo) has some land to a Cheetah sanctuary and conservation project. There are over 20 cheetahs at the sanctuary most of which were born in captivity and all of which could not survive in the wild. The idea is that these cheetahs are 'ambassadors' for wild cheetah. The aim is to educate and raise awareness among the public so that wild cheetahs can be conserved.

Drakenstein Lion Park is an organization dedicated to re-homing of lions that have been rescued from lives in intolerable conditions. For instance, they recently received 3 cubs rescued from a circus in Europe (you can read details about the lions on their site).