After finishing the trail we hurry towards Cape Town. Actually we think we hurry but everyone else is thinking we are going too slow and passing us in permitted and non permitted areas along the road. We notice as we approach Cape Town that the traffic is up and the number of people respecting traffic rules is down so you have to be extra careful especially when a big truck is approaching at high speed from behind. After entering Cape Town we are happy that we have some directions as there are lots of freeways with hard to reach exits given that with our luck we arrived during Friday evening rush hour.
Entering Cape Town is easy but exiting it it is stop and go as we approach our destination Simons Town which is on the only major coastal highway down the Cape Peninsula where quite a few people are going for the weekend. But everything is forgotten as we stop in the parking lot of the hotel and we spot our first penguins sitting in the bushes and looking inquisitively towards us.
The hotel is the worst one we stayed in during our trip not necessarily when looking at it by itself but certainly when looking in comparison. We knew that however having penguins just outside the door really outweighs the fact that the warm water does not work and that the refrigerator is a store refrigerator with a huge Coca Cola advertisement that lights garishly the room. The hotel also has a restaurant where we order the sea platter (when in Rome do as the Romans do) which is fresh but average tasting and the steak which is also average.
After going back to our room and unpacking as well as charging our electronics we hear the penguins all around us. They are not called jackass penguins without a reason as it feels we are surrounded by donkeys. We exit the room once to search for one and we find it a bit further in the front of a hotel room…we do not approach so we do not scare him. After our long drive we go to sleep…tomorrow it is penguin day.
After a night during which we are awoken a few times by the braying of penguins both in front and behind our room we go out to the nearby terrace restaurant where we plan to have our free breakfast. The view from the terrace is nice but the most interesting encounter is the hotel cat coming and sitting in our laptop case. We have to use the laptop here given that the Wifi connection is not working in the room but at least we got as a prize a sleeping black cat. The cat is very friendly and does not want to leave the laptop case until the server decides to take her away.
The food is also quite good and refreshed we go to the nearby gift shop which has a few interesting gift ideas most of them related to penguins and sharks.
The plan for the morning is to visit the nearby Boulder and Foxy Beach and the area between them that is supposedly full of penguins. This whole area is part of Table Mountain National Park and our hotel is right next to it so we simply walk to Boulder Beach after paying the entrance fee. To our surprise and delight immediately we see three penguins exit the water and waddle next to us up towards the bushes, yay!
Besides the relaxed penguins there are also Egyptian Gooses nearby which seem to ignore the penguins and just keep watch from the top of some boulders.
The beach is pretty small so we decide to walk towards Foxy Beach on the raised boardwalk. While returning towards the boardwalk we meet an unsure penguin that is stuck on the paved trail between us and Foxy Beach. In the end he decides to jump in the bushes where we notice other hidden penguins and birds including our first Cape Robin Chat.
The boardwalk has a fence to avoid people going into the penguin area and while at first we don’t notice any penguins after a bit of walking we start to see more and more. On the mountain side of the trail there are beautiful gardens and what we think are really expensive houses overlooking the beaches. But we care more about the seaside side of the trail with the penguins.
It is quite fun to see penguins in a forest it is not something that we expected but they seem at home between the trees. We really enjoy to see especially the chicks which are even more plump and motionless than the adults.
There are a few overlooks where we can see Boulders Beach from above and the penguins playing in the water and outside. The views of the Bay are quite nice and we enjoy stopping and just looking at the view.
The penguins also enter the water and it is like night and day, they are plump and slow on land but sleek and fast in the water. Quite fun to see!
And then suddenly we notice there are plastic barrels on the penguin side. Initially we think that it might be some bad littering but then we understand that they are artificial burrows for penguins as we see penguins entering and exiting them and chicks standing at the entrance of a few of them.
We notice also a few natural burrows but they seem at a premium and that might be the reason why the barrels were added. And at least the plastic barrels are also very popular.
There are penguin chicks all around and we see quite a few both in the forest and on the beach later. It seems not all of the penguins know when the breeding period is which is just fine with us.
After the one hour walk on the boardwalk through the forest we arrive at the second beach, Foxy beach. The ticket from Boulders Beach also works here and we enter first the visitor center and then move on to the beach. As we exit there are a lot of bushes here which seem to teem with penguins but they are difficult to spot, not so difficult to hear though.
The ones that we notice though are quite fun to watch and again it seems there is an unspoken detente between the penguins and geese, they really do not care about each other.
The beach is full of penguins further away but there are also quite a few close to us some of them with chicks enjoying the beach and the sun.
We take our time watching the penguins even though the beach is much busier than the boardwalk with some school groups even.
The penguins are not the only birds on the beach though. There are quite a few oystercatchers on the boulders and some Egyptian Geese hidden between the bushes.
Some of the penguins play near the water, they enter it, swim a bit around and then run out of it.
It is really funny and there are quite a few photographers trying to capture a special picture of the penguins. This includes us of course and we make quite a few fun photos before deciding to leave. This is because we still have to return to the car and then we have a whole National Park to visit in the afternoon.
This is the last morning in Africa outside of Cape Town and we eat our eggs (what else?) on the terrace overlooking the bay. Unfortunately the cat doesn’t do a repeat visit of the laptop bag while we check the weather forecast and are a bit dismayed by the fact that there is a 50% chance of rain for the day.
We take one more look at the views and see the incoming clouds, who knows maybe we will get lucky? More likely not though.
As we start to move the luggage to the car we see a bit of movement in the foliage next to our door and checking a bit more carefully we discover that a penguin overnighted there and is unhappy that we discovered him. He does all kind of movements which should be threatening but we think are quite cute. Now we know why we heard donkey-like noises all night in front of our door. And then it is time to drive north, a rarity for the trip, to Cape Town.
