I Seek To Cure What's Deep Inside -- A Need for Penguins!

I know the blog is jumping around a bit here, but you really don’t want to read three straight posts of the safari, because you will just be jealous. So, I’m going back a few days to our trip along the Cape of Good Hope.

We hit the road early.  With two busses, there was plenty of room to spare.  Doing a big bus trip is not ideal – you don’t get to stop where you want, and you never have enough time, but we did enjoy the stops we had quite a bit.

We wound our way through the suburban beach towns along the western Atlantic coast side.  It is reminiscent of coastal California – beautiful beaches and expensive homes stacked along hillsides.  The real estate costs less here in the Capetown area than Laguna Niguel or Malibu!  Our first stop was along the western Atlantic coast overlooking the beautiful beaches of ? (look up name).  We also had a great view of the 12 Apostles looming right above us.  It was a traditional large bus photo op – off the bus for a few minutes, snap pictures, and back on the bus.  I’ve never felt more Asian in my life.

(All kidding aside, it WAS fun doing the trip with a large group of people – especially on the safari.  And, our guide for much of the trip, Carol, did a great job of keeping us engaged with her historical and cultural briefings as we traveled.)

We then continued along the western Atlantic coastline (where the water is very cold – no one goes swimming – just surfing).  We drove up the windy cliffs of Chapman’s Mountain, and stopped for tremendous views of Hoets Bay and the Sentinel.  Then we wound our way down to the bottom of the Cape of Good Hope – past mountains, and beautiful views that are a cross between California and the Amalfi Coast.  We drove passed a large ostrich farm.  We saw a bontebok off in a field.  The national parkland is stunningly beautiful – reminding me of Australia or the starkness of Ireland.

Once we got to end, we disembarked the bus.  Some people hiked to the top, while we took the funicular.  The views at the point were stunning – beaches, ocean, mountains all around.  We hiked up to the pointless lighthouse (built in the 1800s, it is high up and gets shrouded in clouds, so ships could not always see the light.  After one shipwreck, they built a better one much lower down on the point.

It was very cool to be there – not only were the views amazing, but the sense of history and adventure is palpable.  The bravery of the first sailors to round the cape is inestimable.

Julia and I hiked all the way to as close as you can get to the lower lighthouse and the very physical end of the Cape.  Carol joined us for much of the hike, but turned around in the hot sun.  We all saw two Dassies sunning themselves on the rocks above us (see the pictures in the penguin photos already on the blog).  We smartly hiked back so as not to miss the bus (although, this wasn’t the Robben Island tour where people would be left behind!  Btw, those people who were left behind were not part of the SAS group.)  I worked up a good sweat on the hike, smelling a bit ripe.

We headed back towards Boulders Beach, which houses the only on-shore colony of African Penguins in, well Africa.  The rest live on islands offshore.  The penguins came ashore in 1985, transforming a sleepy little beach town into a tourist mecca.  We parked in the bus parking, and walked an easy ten minutes through residential neighborhoods.  I pity the people who live here now – their quiet beachtown is no more, and the beach itself is now off limits.

(On the drive to Boulders Bay, we could see Seal Island across False Bay.  Seal Island is famous as the spot for nature programs to go and shoot footage of great white sharks leaping out of the water to eat -- or miss catching -- seals.  No doubt you've seen the footage.)

As an aside, there are a couple of groups of younger (9-12 years old, I guess) black kids singing and dancing wearing African clothes/jewelry, markings, as well as the usual folks showing off their wares for sale by the individual car parking lot.

The penguins were so cool to see.  We walked down boardwalks that weave through the sand dunes, and the penguins were on either side – sometimes crossing under the boardwalks.  Some were lying there – in fact I saw one on a nest scoot down over an egg.  Others were walking around.  When we got to the beach, there were a number of penguins on the rocks (sounds like a British drink – “I’ll have a Penguin on the Rocks, please!”), some on the beach, and some on the water.  It seemed like some were showing off for us – walking towards us, while others nonchalantly ignored everything.  It was neat to watch them swim – alternating between diving under the water, or swimming on top, looking almost like ducks.

African penguins are not as big as your typical penguin in the Antarctic, but they sure are cute little guys and gals. I’m guessing probably saw around 50 penguins in the colony, although I did not take a survey.

After the penguins, which was hard to top, we reboarded the bus and headed to our last stop, the town of Fish Hoek.  We were pretty tuckered out from the combination of hiking and riding a bus, so we grabbed lunch at a little Bistro.  Service was slow, so we did not have time to shop or walk around.  We decided to go back to the hotel and relax, rather than go to the Botanical Gardens and rush around to get to dinner.

The Cape is an invigorating land -- stark windswept beauty, interesting animals, beautiful resort towns and beaches, and some towns where people are having a rough financial go of things.