Life has been busy lately so I’ve really struggled to find the time to sit down for a proper catch up on my blog. But we’ve been having lots of mini adventures as a family, so I thought I’d share a recent one with you.
One of our favourite outings since we moved to the Helderberg is to visit Eagle Encounters. It’s just down the road from us so super convenient and the girls absolutely love going there, so it’s often an option when we just feel like getting out the house, but don’t feel like going too far.
It’s a pure delight to go there with the twins, and no matter how many times we go, they always run around with squeals of delight at seeing all the weird and wonderful creatures. The chatter and comments that follow are so entertaining, and IP and I walk around there with a permanent grin on our face at watching the two of them in their element.
Located on the grounds of the Spier Wine Farm on Baden Powell Drive outside Stellenbosch, Eagle Encounters is a rehabilitation and conservation centre dealing with injured birds of prey. They also have a number of other animals there, such as big lizards, snakes and some farm animals, so there really is something for everyone to enjoy.
AG is especially entertaining and I’m so fascinated by her adventurous spirit in getting up close to the animals. She’s completely fearless when it comes to handling them and especially delights in the snakes and big lizards – much to mommy’s horror! We were super proud of her when she happily put the leather glove on her hand in the eagle owl enclosure and held up her arm for the owl to perch on. And then the huge smile on her face when he sat there eating his snack, is one I will treasure forever. HJ, on the other hand, is the total opposite – she’s fascinated by the animals, but firmly keeps her distance from most of them. She’ll occasionally touch one when prompted, but she’s happy to just observe most of the time.
The staff at Eagle Encounters are friendly and knowledgeable and very hands on with the animals, so if the girls are keen to see the snakes or lizards, inevitably one will be brought out its enclosure and we’re able to see it up close. The one time, the handler brought out the black eagle for us to see, and it was a real treat. He was huge and majestic, and it was amazing to get so close, especially when he stretched out his wings in front of us – which resulted in another grin of pure delight from AG. They also have demonstrations with different birds throughout the day, so it’s fun to catch one of these. There’s a little tip box at the exit, so if one of the staff has been especially helpful, please don’t forget to tip them!
We can highly recommend Eagle Encounters for a family outing, and it’s a great cause to support. You can also donate to their cause via their website and find them on Facebook.
Our girls absolutely love all kinds of animals, especially birds. They always get so excited when they see a bird, pointing up and shouting “dirdie”. So we knew the World of Birds would be a hit, and we were absolutely right. I have never heard so many squeals of delight and exclamations of “wow”.
The monkeys definitely stole the show. At first the girls were a bit nervous of them as the monkeys are quite boisterous and jumped all over us. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous of the monkeys myself, thanks to a little traumatic experience of being chased by a group of monkeys as a child while on holiday in KZN. But once we all relaxed it was lots of fun to have the monkeys come sit on our lap and shoulders, and jump on our heads.
We hired bicycles from Up Cycles who have a couple of bike stations around the Atlantic Seaboard, including in Camps Bay and at the V&A Waterfront. We hired bikes from the station at the Pavilion on the Promenade and did a circular route up and down the coast heading towards the Waterfront.
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