The Atlantic and Indian ocean views, plus wildlife. South Africa

Since it was a beautiful day yesterday we decided to drive to the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point, and Penguin Beach. We started our day with a lovely breakfast at the Steenburg Wine Estate. Don had coffee, I had a cappuccino, and Don had a very tasty spicy Malay open face omelet and a side of toast and I had French toast with bacon and Camembert cheese. The bill, with tip, came to less than $20 USD. We were in a very nice place and I was surprised at how reasonable the prices were. South Africa has proven to be very affordable so far, a welcome change from expensive London. The Pengellys must be experiencing sticker shock in our country. I did mention that the Pengellys are the South African family that is staying in our home on this home exchange? Anyway -

We then got on the M4 for our drive to the point. You take the M4 the whole way to the Table Mountain National Park so it's an easy drive. It is also a very scenic one, you pass through Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, and Simons Town, all on False Bay. Here is a picture of the Indian Ocean.

As we got closer to our destination we kept seeing signs like this one:

Apparently they are everywhere and there are all kinds of warnings about staying in your car and not rolling down your window and that they are wild animals and will bite. We never saw any, even though we pulled into numerous scenic viewing spots along the bay. We saw this:

Quaint little changing rooms at St. James Beach

Exhaustive list of all the prohibited things on St. James Beach.

We finally made it to the park entrance (it takes a long time to get anywhere if you keep pulling off of the road to take pictures) and set off for the Cape Point Lighthouse.

More beautiful scenery and views after entering the national park.

 View from the lighthouse of the Atlantic ocean.

 Lighthouse

Yet another amazing view.

Hey! What's this?

Baboons! 

I'll just sit here and pretend you're not taking my picture.

Is this better? I think I look best while perched on someone's car.

Get off, this is my terrace!

And there's more.

 An ostrich, just standing there by the side of the road.

Ostrich droppings everywhere, you really had to watch your step.

We made it to the Cape of Good Hope.

 Here I am, climbing on rocks. Very, very carefully, don't want to break an ankle again.

The Atlantic Ocean,. Two oceans, one day.

And now, penguins!

 These are young penguins, they are gray and white and won't become black and white until older.

 These were everywhere and numbered, it's where they make their nests.

 See the one in the foreground? All it did was stand there and glare at all the people taking pictures. The. Whole. Time.

 Now that's more like it! Penguin Beach indeed.

Coming back from the cape we stopped at the first sign we saw for penguin beach. We then walked for a ways on a wooden boardwalk along the protective penguin fence. We saw penguins in the bushes and by the nesting sites but they were mostly in the shade and we couldn't get many clear pictures. Also, wasn't there supposed to be a beach? A beach full of penguins? We didn't know that we had come in from the opposite end of the main entrance where you pay a fee and get access to the beach (actually you stay on a fenced-in boardwalk, you don't actually get to walk on the beach and bother the poor penguins). If you just want to walk along the penguin fence though it's free. 

It was well worth the fee (R550 each, about $5.50) to see all the penguins on the beach and besides, we don't mind paying fees that support conservation of land and wildlife, both of which is as work here, the penguins can really destroy the greenery so they are isolated in certain areas until all the bushes and grasses can take hold and mature, then they're let loose in that area to mate and breed.

We really wanted to get a video of this couple's mating dance. He would walk around her in a circle a few times, then he would stand behind her and rapidly flap his wings against her sides and then try to attempt to mate. She seemed to be having none of it however and spent most of the time grooming herself. "Not now dear, I have to wash my hair."

There is a folder with more pictures in it on the sidebar. Got to run, whales have been spotted in the water at Simonstown!