Cape Town Series: Animals!

As you’ve seen in earlier posts, hiking to the Indian Ocean and backpacking through the Drakensberg Mountains, Michelle and I love spending time in the outdoors. One of the many benefits includes seeing animals. While we were in Cape Town, we saw lots of them! The highlights include Great White sharks, African penguins, seals, ostriches, and baboons.

Leading up to our trip, we did research about things to do and places to see while in and around Cape Town. Two places in particular were Cape of Good Hope (near Cape Point) and Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town. Both of which are located on the peninsula South of Cape Town. Cape Point is the Southwesterly most point on the African continent and there’s a nature reserve there, and Boulders Beach is famous for its penguins.

Caution: Rockfall and BABOONS!

Cape Point is about a two-hour drive from Cape Town, and there are two ways to get there. Driving along the coast via Chapman’s Peak Drive or taking the highway farther inland. I recommend taking Chapman’s Peak Drive because it’s much more stunning in its beauty; kind of like driving along Route 101 in Oregon. Along the way, we saw signs alerting drivers to be cautious of baboons. Coming from Ohio, I was used to seeing warning signs about deer, so seeing this sign got us excited. We got lucky because we saw a troop of baboons just as we were about to turn into the nature reserve. In true tourist fashion, I brought the car to a stop so we could take pictures of the baboons.

Roadside Baboons

Say Hello!

We continued into the nature reserve at Cape Point. Cruising along the road, taking in the breathtaking beauty of the Atlantic coast, we spotted ostriches. Up until this point in my life, I had only seen ostriches at the zoo, and, further, I was under the impression that ostriches could only be found in the savannah. Well, now I know better. Apparently, Cape Point is home to a special kind of ostrich that has adapted to surviving the climate there. It felt odd to see ostriches standing on a beach. Better yet – it was cool seeing them there because it was completely unexpected.

Beachfront Ostriches

After taking photos of the ostriches, we drove to the Cape of Good Hope and then to Cape Point. We were under a bit of a time crunch, so we didn’t spend as much time as we would have liked at either place. In the future, I think it would be cool to hike between the two because they’re relatively close together and the hike would follow the coastline.

While we were at Cape Point, Michelle spotted a black shape bobbing in and out of the surf at the bottom of the cliff. Upon closer inspection, we realized it was a seal playing in the water. The water so strikingly blue that it was easy to see the seal twist and turn in the waves. We saw seals again at one other place; in the harbor at Cape Town.

Welcome!

Noting the time, we got back into our car and drove to Boulder’s Beach. Located on the opposite side of the peninsula, Boulder’s Beach is home to the African penguin. Other than seeing penguins at the zoo, I had seen them in the wild once before when I spent a semester studying in Ecuador at the Galapagos Islands (one of the places in the world Michelle wants to visit more than anywhere else). This, however, was about to be Michelle’s first time seeing them in the wild.

Penguins Sunning Themselves on a Boulder

When we got down to the beach, there were penguins everywhere. Some of them were sunning themselves on boulders; others were gliding through the water; and others still were nesting. We got to see penguins keeping their eggs warm, juveniles with their metallic blue plumage, and fully-grown adults waddling around on the sand. We took lots of pictures and videos.

Penguins Nesting (foreground) and Juveniles (middle ground)

A Stroll on the Beach

The Caption within the Pictures Speaks for Itself

"Walk This Way"

Before leaving, we stopped at the information/gift shop. I noticed in the back that there was a book where visitors could sign their name, where they’re from and leave a little note about their experience. I thought about what I could say about my experience seeing the penguins, which made me think about my little sister, Andrea. Penguins are her favorite animals. I decided to include her in the visitors’ book.

Here's to My Little Sister

Quick tangent about the seals in the harbor: There’s a term in biology, anthropomorphism, whereby human characteristics or behaviors are applied to non-human creatures. I mention this nerdy fact because while we were heading out of the harbor toward Robben Island, Michelle and I saw seals in the water not too far from the boat. Simply seeing the seals made us giddy, but there was more. As the boat floated past the seals, they turned on their sides and “waved” at the passersby. Seeing the seals wave brought even bigger smiles to our faces.

Toodle-oo!

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At this point in the post, you might be saying, “I thought Joe said he and Michelle saw Great White sharks.” Well, you’re correct. However, I want to save that experience for another post. Check back soon!