Finally, penguin day arrives

When you tell people you’re going to Cape Town, almost anyone who has been there says, “Be sure to go see the penguins”. Today was the day! But I digress.

Today, with a smart, knowledgable and lovely young man named Xavier as our tour guide and driver we circumnavigated the Cape Peninsula. After a brief stop to pick up two other guests from India we were on our way from Cape Town to the tip of the peninsula at Cape Point.

We headed first down the west side of the cape driving through several of the most affluent neighbourhoods of Cape Town. Condos and homes were built up and down the cliffs from the main road overlooking the Atlantic. Bantry Bay was the first community we passed through and it’s one of the most desirable because it is protected from the winds by Lions Head mountain. Xavier told us that the wind is called the Cape doctor because it takes away all the pollution from the city and blows it out to sea.

Next up was Clifton which is the top ranked affluent neighbourhood, with five beautiful beaches. Along this stretch of affluent communities there was recently a Justin Bieber sighting when he was seen dining here during his tour to Cape Town. Unfortunately, I suppose because of his recent visit to the area, quite often when we tell people we’re from Canada Justin Bieber is referenced. Sigh. Could think of other worse things I suppose.

This coastal drive is on the back side of Table Mountain and perched atop the mountain from this angle and circling Camps Bay are the Twelve Apostles. We had a quick stop at Maidens Cove for picture taking and then we stopped high on a hill to take pictures of an amazing beach, really wide, long (12 km) and beautiful white sand. There were a couple of horseback riders on the beach and they were just tiny specks, lost in the expanse of the beach from our perspective. What a great place to ride. One thing I hadn’t expected expected from Cape Town was the plethora of beautiful beaches in the area. The Atlantic is rough and cold so activity even in the summer is mostly sunbathing, one clothing optional.

With fabulous views with every turn, we were soon on to Houts Bay (Hout is the Afrikaans word for wood and since the early settlers used wood from this area to build homes, that name was given to this large protected bay). There is a port and yet another lovely beach and then we were on to Chapman Peak Drive, a toll road now to pay for major reconstruction after a rock fall 10 or so years ago took out part of the road. Even now buses are only allowed to travel south on the highway because the lane going north is too narrow.

Along the way we talked to our guide about how daily life is in Cape Town and more generally South Africa. It was interesting to hear his perspective.

As we neared the southern most tip of the Cape we stopped to see an Ostrich farm and I learned a lot about them! The hens lay an egg a day until they have a full nest to sit on and of course they sneak the eggs out from under them to encourage continued laying. The gift stores are full of ostrich eggs, painted and etched and adorned for sale. They are huge – 6 inches high and weigh about 3 pounds (20 times the weight of a chicken’s egg). Imagine the omelet! When the females, which have grey feathers vs the males black and white, are in breeding season their necks turn pink. Pretty darn obvious! They mate for life, just like Canada Geese I pointed out to Xavier. Not sure he knew what a Canada Goose was.

We arrived at the entrance to Table Mountain National Park, which Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope are part of, and stopped in line at the gates to pay the entry fee. We waited just a few minutes and Xavier said in the summer, high season the wait is over an hour some times. We were actually reminded several times today that travelling off season to this area has many advantages especially when we had such fabulous weather as we did today. All venues had lots of visitors but they weren’t crazy busy. At the Cape we were able to drive up to the parking lot where as in the summer, the vans have to park and visitors have to go to the entry point by shuttle bus.

There are two points at the south end of the Cape, Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. We headed to Cape of Good Hope first. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern most point of the continent of Africa, but in fact it is the most south western most point. Cape Agulhas, which is 250 km to the south east, is actually the southern most point and is where the Atlantic and India oceans meet. We won’t unfortunately be able to get there this trip.

After the compulsory Kodak moment (queuing involved), we headed over to Cape Point where the light house is located. We walked the 15 or so minutes up to the top of the Cape and to the lighthouse there. What a spectacular view. After a quick lunch, almost stolen by the aggressive birds lying in wait for unsuspecting tourists, we turned north to return to Cape Town on the coastal road on the east side of the Cape. We did not, however, see any evidence of the Baboons that the frequent signs warn tourists to be on the look out for and protect their food from.

It was here, near Simon’s Town, that we got to fulfill our goal of seeing the African Penguins along Boulder Beach. I know I’m not alone in thinking Africa was a strange place to find penguins. One thinks of the Emperor Penguins and all the ice and snow in which they live. But there on the beach and surrounding sand dunes was one of the 52 colonies of African Penguins. They’re so cute and we spent 30 minutes or so watching their hilarious movements. There are only 3 colonies on the mainland with the majority of them on islands off the coast. I could write about penguins but it’s late and really, do you care, other than they’re cute.

Simon’s Town is a really nice looking community of expensive homes, and great looking shops and restaurants. But in short order were were off on the coastal road heading back to Cape Town. We didn’t make any more stops but we did get to enjoy the fabulous views and cute villages, such as Fish Hoek, along the way.

We had Xavier drop us off at the Waterfront so we could enjoy another of the great restaurants for dinner there. Then it was back in a cab for our hotel where we hope to have an early night because we’ve got more fun and adventure planned starting early tomorrow. More then………