En route from Franschhoek
to Cape Town, we spent a day driving around the Cape Peninsula. Most importantly (for Stephanie at least), we
spent the night at Boulders Beach to see the largest colony of African penguins.
We booked our hotel solely on the basis that it was the closest to the penguins -- TripAdvisor
reviews indicated that you could see penguins from the dining room. As we ate dinner without any penguin
sightings, we were somewhat disappointed.
However, as we were getting ready for bed, a series of loud screeches
caused us to rush to the window.
We had read that it was penguin mating season – was this the sound they
made mating? It turns out not, but there
were two pairs of penguins hanging out in the courtyard just outside of our
room. The loud noise they were making tells other penguins to keep out of their
territory. Penguins mate for life and return to the same breeding nest, or burrow, every year. African penguins were
originally called jackass penguins because this noise sounds much like a donkey
braying. Lucky us, we were serenaded by
loud penguins most of the night – the price you pay for staying as close to
their colony as possible.
In the morning, we set out
to explore Boulders Beach, the heart of the penguin colony. There’s really no other way to describe it other
than there are penguins absolutely everywhere!
PSA: African penguins are very
endangered! We saw a group of four
penguins back in Knysna, very far from home. They are forced to travel long distances
because their food supply is diminishing.
After spending plenty of
quality time with the penguins, we headed to Cape Point, widely regarded as the
southernmost point in Africa and the dividing point between the Indian and
Atlantic Oceans. As it turns out, Cape Agulhas
(150 km to the east) is the true holder of these titles. But whatever, Cape Point is still close!
Cape Point is also quite far from
New York City.
The views from the
lighthouse of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans were breathtaking, although we
understand that the lighthouse is often shrouded in fog, which used to lead to
an unusually high number of shipwrecks. To escape the tourist hoards arriving
by the busload and climbing (slowly) to the lighthouse, we also hiked to the nearby
Cape of Good Hope.
On to Cape Town! We took the scenic route along Chapman’s
Drive, which boasts 114 curves over the course of 9 km, and a speed limit of 20
km/hr. Giorgio and our Nissan handled
the drive perfectly, rewarding us with spectacular views of the Atlantic coast.
#stephandgio
PS:
Our definitive guide to wine tasting in the Cape Winelands is in the works! And we hiked Table Mountain today so stay tuned!
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