Cuteness Abounds on the Edge of a Continent

I traveled to Boulder Beach and Cape Point with some of the gang. South Africa never ceases to astound and amaze. I know I have said it before but this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Boulders Beach is home to about 200 African penguins. Due to uncontrolled egg harvesting and guano scrapping they were nearly driven to extinction. The penguins used to be called Jackass Penguins because of their donkey-like braying call, but due to the fact that several species of penguins in South America make the same sound their name was changed to African Penguins. They generally feed off of squid and shoal fish. African penguins, like many other species, are monogamous and breed with a single partner for life. The penguins were extremely cute and very well dressed. They played in the surf and were nesting eggs when we showed up in the morning. Many even seemed to pose for pictures.















Cape Point is the peninsula that extends south of Cape Town and creates the west coastline of False Bay. It is also the meeting place of two main ocean currents: the cold Benguela current and the warm Agulhas current. It is popularly known as the meeting place between the Indian and Atlantic oceans; however, geographically the meeting place is farther south at Cape Agulhas. We ate at Two Seas Restaurant and explored much of Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. They both provide vast panoramas of the Atlantic Ocean. You get the feeling that you are standing on the edge of the world.





















There is plenty of wildlife on the cape, including zebras, otters, birds, lizards and snakes. We also encountered several baboons that walked amongst visitors while carrying their children. The baby baboons were incredibly adorable. Although, the pamphlet as well as signs warned us that baboons were wild animals and dangerous and we were not allowed to feed them or eat around them. They apparently go quite literally ‘bananas’ for human food. Baboons have also been known to dig in pockets and take anything from wallets to keys to purses and backpacks. The ones we saw seemed desensitized to humans and were unbothered by us taking pictures and pointing fingers.