Whales and penguins and baboons, oh my!

  Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Monday, October 27, 2008

Wow! What a day we had yesterday. Our initial plan was to just take a leisurely drive down to the coast to the Cape of Good Hope -- the southern most tip of Africa (roughly) and the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet (almost). So, we were driving along the coast... wait, back up a minute, driving? Yes, that was adventure number one. We rented a car. Of course, those crazy South Africans prefer driving on the left side of the road. That didn't take as much getting used to as I expected. You sit on the other side of the car, too, which is weird, but the thing that threw us off the most was that the windshield wipers and turn signals were also swapped. So every time we went to make a turn our windshield wipers turned on. (AD-PLUS it was a bit wierd to gauge how close you were to the left side of the road. But it only really takes about 15-30mins to get used to)

Okay, back to the story. We were driving along and passed a lot of people on the side of the road staring into the ocean. So we pulled over, too, and we saw whales!

Southern right whale off the coast

Very cool. I know you can see them in California, too, but we never have. And these were close. We were just on the edge of the water and two whales were no more than a few hundred feet off the coast from us.

Another whale fin off the coast

These pictures don't convey how amazing it was. (AD-Seriously it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!)

Our next stop was Boulders Beach, home of an African Penguin colony.

Penguins at Boulders Beach

What? Penguins in Africa? Apparently as recently as 1984 a penguin colony a little farther south on some islands got tired of the cold and snow and decided to migrate to the warmer weather of a beautiful South African beach. It started out with one couple in 1984.

Two penguins enjoying the beach

Now, there are thousands. You can get right up close to them, you could even hug one if you wanted (Aidess restrained herself admirably). AD- I mean, you could really get so super close to the penguins. We were walking and they are right there beside you on the pathway, with no barrier or anything! If I had sardines or fish in my pocket I would have fed them, then petted them, then put one in my bag, and take it home for my dad.

Aidess trying to hug a penguin

You can swim with them (but the water was a bit cold).

When we continued on the final leg to the Cape of Good Hope all of a sudden traffic came to a stop. We thought there must be construction or something, but no. It was just baboons deciding to take an afternoon siesta on the road. They were lounging, eating, staring at the people in the cars staring at them. Baboons! AD-LOADS of baboons, a herd? no..what do you call a group of baboons? In any case, there were loads of them. One was eating chips from a bag (Lay's sour cream and chives), then there was a mommy with a baby hanging on its tummy.

Baboon!

I mean, you expect that on safari or in a zoo, but not in the middle of a highway. Wow. That just made our day.

After all the wildlife, the southern tip of Africa had some nice views and all, but somehow, the journey was far more than the destination, as always.

Together at Cape Point -- south tip of Africa

Tomorrow, wine country. Today, relaxing a little bit -- it's been a long week.

- E
- AD