Part 13: Boulders Beach Penguins

5/13/2018

After seeing the Cape of Good Hope, the bus continued back to the North to visit the penguin refuge of Boulders Beach. Once we arrived to the bus parking area, the was about a 5-10 minute walk to the gate of the refuge, The walk did offer a few views of penguins along the way.

Upon entry to the refuge, you don’t have to go far before you find the penguins. The boardwalk offers two main paths. The one toward the right tends to be busier as leads into the middle of the refuge, and it is a bit more in the open, making spotting of penguins easier, and in some cases they get pretty close to the path.

Once at the end of this main path, you are in the heart of the refuge and on the main viewing deck. This is perhaps the most crowded part of the refuge, but it is understandable why. Malcom had suggested starting here, then working your way back so that you could get to this area with enough time to enjoy it and not be rushed because you spent more time in the earlier portion, to which I have to agree with that plan.

Now, if you are worried about not seeing many penguins, I think it is safe to say that you will see TONS of penguins. These African Penguins are also known as Jackass Penguins because they make a noise similar to that of a donkey.

Some of them were just walking around, several were at nests covering their eggs and others were with their young. The penguin nestlings were incredibly adorable!

While Malcom’s advice was great to start at the furthest end then head back, I would also add that anyone who comes here should give time to head down the other path. The main reason being that even though it is more in the bushes and trees, you can still find wondering penguins in these areas, and it isn’t nearly as busy as the main path.

Plus, you might find yourself in a situation where you can get an AWESOME selfie with this bird. I don’t think any description I can give about my level of excitement for how this turned out would do justice to how much joy this moment gave me, as it was probably a one-in-a-million chance of working out so perfectly. I guess I happened to find the right penguin who was curious about what the heck I was doing.

Once you reach the end of the other path, you still get the chance to see the main part of the refuge where the penguins gather together.

The walk back takes you back through the same path, and if you still have time before the scheduled departure of the bus, you could use it to explore some of the shops along the way, or to purchase souvenirs from local street vendors.

Once back on the bus, it was just shy of two hours to get back to Cape Town. Much like the drive to the cape, there were some great sights along the way in the form of mountains and valleys. Even passing by some vineyards as well.

Along the way, you could see Pollsmoor Prison, the prison that Nelson Mandela was kept after his time at Robben Island when he had certain medical needs that arose that could not be handled on the island. At one point, Malcom paused his dialogue on the microphone and says to me “We are also going to pass a building that your American tax dollars went to”, and at first I thought it was going to be some part of aid money that had been sent to South Africa, but as it would turn out, it was building for the Consulate General of the United States for Cape Town. In the picture below, the prison is located among the red roofed buildings, and the white building directly in front of them is the consulate.

And upon arrival back to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, that would bring an end to this FANTASTIC tour! All of my experiences with City Sightseeing Tours in Cape Town were enjoyable, but the wealth of information that Malcom provided really helped to make the drive to the main points of interest enjoyable. I appreciated the honesty of which he spoke about different topics not trying to hide the fact that things are not perfect in the area, while still maintaining a positive attitude and a bright light on the features that make his home excellent. I cannot recommend this tour enough if you make your way to Cape Town as it gives you the ability to see two of the main highlights that are a bit of a ways away from the main part of Cape Town.

Next, it’s time to wrap-up this visit to Cape Town with a few more attractions before the flight back up to Johannesburg.

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Part 13: Boulders Beach Penguins - March 26, 2018