Penguins

Today we left Cape Town early in the morning and went to visit the African penguin colony at Boulders Beach. We stopped on the way for breakfast in Kalk Bay which was large but a little disappointing.

We arrived, paid our fees, and walked round to see the penguins. Most of the penguins were moulting, with puffed up feathers, making them look rather chubby. While they moult they stay on land and don’t feed for 21 days. So I suspect they were rather hungry!

Afterwards we visited Boulders Beach and sat in the shade of this picturesque beach, with its golden sand, azure blue waters, and smooth granite boulders.

For here left to visit Cape Point, along with everyone else! We had to queue for about an hour, but made it inside the National Park eventually.

We walked up to the oldest lighthouse, and then along a path to the end of the Point, overlooking the newest lighthouse. In 1919 a second lighthouse was commissioned as the first didn’t serve its purpose too well, being much higher up it was frequently shrouded in fog. The replacement is much lower, and also brighter – it’s 10 million lumen light can reach 63km out to see. 

Now we’ve left Cape Town, we headed along the Atlantic Road to Stellenbosch, where we’re staying in a hostel for a couple of nights.