04--Penguins

Boulders (99 images)
After leaving the Cape of Good Hope, which I thought was going to be the highlight of the day, we stopped at the coastal town of Boulders for an unadvertised surprise.

The town of Boulders clings to the side of beautiful green hills that curve around a sheltered cove and slope down to the sea forming picturesque beaches along the shore. It is on one of those beautiful, boulder studded beaches that we were introduced to a colony of penguins living in a protected area.

Located between two public beaches, Seaforth and Boulders, an elevated boardwalk on Foxy Beach allows visitors to walk only inches above the penguins.

Originally called Jack Ass Penguins because of a braying sound they make when mating, these black and white native birds of Africa are now called African Penguins because while other penguins also brayed when mating, there were no other penguins native to Africa.

Beautiful flower covered gardens hide some of the homes that are built along the upper border of the protected area where the penguins cavort on the sand from January through August.

Because the baby penguins are covered with downy brown feathers that are fluffy rather than smooth, they appear larger than their parents. The colors of the penguins help it camouflage itself in the water. Among the natural enemies of the penguin are the kelp gulls, the mongoose, killer whales, the mongoose, local seals and pet cats and dogs. Enemies deep in the water look up and are unable to differentiate between the white belly of the penguin and the sunlight filtering down while flying predators such as sea gulls look down and and have trouble seeing the black back of the penguins when they are swimming in the water.

After a seafood lunch at the Seaforth Restaurant on Seaforth Beach we headed out of town and drove along the coast of the Indian Ocean.

Click a picture to see a larger view.

Homes in the Hills Above Boulders