Destination Africa · Penguin adoption in South Africa
We adopted Alfie through SANCCOB. You can adopt a penguin too.
Add R600 to your Destination Africa booking to adopt and name an African penguin through SANCCOB in Gqeberha, South Africa. Your adoption supports seabird rescue, rehabilitation and care, and includes an adoption certificate.
Open to travellers and trade partners. You can also adopt without booking a trip.
Destination Africa has adopted an African penguin through SANCCOB in Gqeberha, and we named him.
He’s more than a name on a certificate. Alfie is a real rescue story in progress, with one clear goal: rehabilitation and release back into the wild.
Alfie stands for what we believe travel should be: purposeful, responsible, and rooted in real impact.
For our clients and trade partners, this is a reminder that a journey can do more than move you across Africa. It can help protect what makes Africa extraordinary.
For SANCCOB, our adoption is support where it matters most: rescue, rehabilitation, and the work that gives African penguins the best chance of returning to the wild.
Rehabilitation status : Alfie was moved into the home pen enclosure to practice walking on the foot in sand. The ankle and toes are weak. Alfie will undergo physio for sand walking for 4 weeks. After the 4 weeks, pending the outcome of rehabilitation – we might need to consider amputation of the foot.
Now for the happy update: Alfie has been released back into the wild! The sand-walking chapter is over, and the ocean adventures can begin. A little penguin, a dedicated care team and a very big reason to celebrate.
R600 is charged per penguin (per adoption), not per person.
You can add one adoption per booking, or include multiple adoptions if you’d like to support more than one penguin.
Yes, you will receive a certificate with your penguin’s full details
Yes, you can by clicking this link
You absolutely can – a free entry for a year to visit your adopted African Penguin
Yes, you can by clicking this link
No. Tracking isn’t available after release.
The adoption supports SANCCOB’s rescue-to-release work, including food, medication, water, and care.
Yes. SANCCOB is a long-standing seabird conservation organisation supporting rescued and rehabilitated penguins. (NPO 003-134)
Support SANCCOB · Online auction
Our adopted penguin, Alfie, gives SANCCOB’s work a special place in the Destination Africa story. Their online auction is another opportunity to be part of it.
Discover South African stays and experiences generously donated by SANCCOB’s supporters and partners. Find a gift, plan a getaway or bid on something you have always wanted to try.
Every successful bid helps support SANCCOB’s work to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured, ill, oiled and abandoned seabirds, and conserve the Critically Endangered African penguin.
Auction dates –
Browse & bidAll experience vouchers are based in South Africa. Please check each auction item’s terms and validity before bidding.
SANCCOB is a registered non-profit organisation (NPO 003-134) whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds – especially critically endangered species like the African Penguin.
Financial contributions assist SANCCOB to cover operational expenses to continue critical conservation projects and provide seabird patients with the very best veterinary and rehabilitative care.
