Strange little critters – they don’t do much but blink



We are staying in a very quaint lodge or B&B practically on the slopes of Table Mountain. Of course it was Dark when we arrived but I had felt a touch claustrophobic which made perfect sense the next morning when I opened the window and saw the mountain leaning over us.

We had aNincredible hour watching Southern Right Whales calving in a quiet bay and I was spitting nickels because I had left my telephoto lens at the hotel – the point and shoot is a good one but really!!!

We then drove all the way down to the cape point at Cape Hope. Very cool to be at the southern most point of a continent where the INdian and Atlantic oceans meet. We had lunch at the point – I had Bobotie which is rather like a SA version of shepherds pie and a very nice sauvignon blanc. The view was spectacular and the birds were cheeky! Barbara had a french fry snatched out of her hand when she wasn’t quite fast enough to her mouth – lunch as a contact sport?

Fran is originally from England and arrived in South Africa via Germany. She is very knowledgable about a great many things Sa – well as one might expect from a guide – but one of her passions is the conservation of a group/pack of baboons living near her home town. Apparently they can become quite acclimated to humans which can create some interesting problems. You know how in Toronto we have “raccoon proof” garbage bins? Well Scarborough has the same issues with the baboons – and with about the same level of success I might add. Very clever beasties!
Our last stop of the day was a conservation area called The Boulders where a colony of African Penguins has been brought back from only two breeding pairs 30 years ago to a fairly robust 3000. The conservation area is really lovely with boardwalks built out over the sand a and rocks for you to view the birds. They are rather endearing little things and perfectly content for some up close and personal viewing. One chap put on a clever display for me from less than a meter away!