penguins (boulders, cape town)

Last weekend we continued our exploration of our new city with a trip along the coast. We've been "saving" the drive all the way to Cape Point to experience with our dear friends Adam and Lindsey, who are coming to Cape Town on their honeymoon in a couple of weeks (their wedding is in Seattle this weekend - we are so disappointed to miss it!).

So we drove part of the way to the point and stopped to see the famous African penguin colony at a beach called Boulders. It was a beautiful Sunday, and we really enjoyed the views across False Bay as the morning haze lifted and we could see along the mountains on the other side in the afternoon.

The penguins were truly fun to see. They waddle in a very satisfactory way, and aren't particularly afraid of people (understandable, judging by the crowd that was there in mid-winter). We saw quite a few juvenile birds and couples at their nests, snuggled up next to each other. And we really enjoyed watching the few who played in the surf.

The beach's namesake (boulders)

Standing on the beach looking across False Bay, toward the town of Kalk Bay.

We think this is a juvenile (left) and parent - the young penguins outgrow baby fluff after about a year, and then grow these blue-tinged feathers.

Getting excited by a few more sightings....

Now we're really excited - there were tons of penguins down on the beach! Had to jostle the crowds a little to get a good view, so the pictures aren't spectacular.

Here you can see a few of the fluffy babies too!

After our penguin-spotting, we drove back toward home and stopped at a fried fish legacy, Kalky's. Jim had been hearing about it and was itching to try. We enjoyed a giant piece of snoek, and then wandered out into the harbor where we saw seals playing around and looking for snacks from the observing humans. It was so fun to see! Those pictures mysteriously disappeared from my phone, so we'll take more the next time we go back.