Boulders Beach

Outside of Cape Town is Boulders Beach, a beautiful spot where a South African Penguin Colony lives. They are the cutest …birds you can imagine!  They are birds, but of course, they don’t fly in the air, they fly underwater!   The penguins are nesting at this time of year…I had no idea that penguins made little dens and sat on their eggs.  These little babies are brown and furry!  We always hear about the Emperor Penguins, but most penguins do not live in such arctic conditions.  These penguins are known as Jackass Penguins.  I’m not kidding.  They are called Jackass because of the “heehaw” sound they make!  They really do sound like donkeys!  We walked among them, saw their nests and their young, then walked on the beach where a small group of them came out and swam. I sat near the water and enjoyed watching them in their little tuxedos!  It was a cloudy day, and “winter” (to them) as well, so we pretty much had them to ourselves.  The beach was pristine, with huge boulders (hence the name Boulder’s Beach), and tidal pools filled with sea stars and crabs and other little critters.  Incredible experience!

We also met a new animal, the Rock Hyrax or “dassie”.  Strangely enough, their closest relative is the elephant!  They look like rodents….they are absolutely adorable.  I’m sure you will agree that Ally took some wonderful photographs of them.

The Rock Hyrax, or “Dassie”!

We stopped for lunch in Simon’s Town where Ally took a bit of a tumble (fell on her ass, actually).  It is usually me, but Ally took the fall on the continent of Africa! (Of course, I have fallen on Africa too….just not on that trip!)   Afterward we went up Table Mountain to see the view….endless vistas…

Another beautiful day in South Africa!