Meet the Penguins at Boulders

Have you ever seen penguins up close? You can now by visiting Boulders out in Simons Town.

Living in a city that offers so many things to do at once can really be a daunting task, to say the least.

However, we spent our Saturday afternoon visiting Boulders, situated just outside Simons Town. Other than the gorgeous beach everyone always speaks about, it was the little tuxedoed chaps that I wanted to see most.

Just a little historical background. Since the rapid growth of the penguin colony in 1983 in False Bay, there was plenty of food for them to eat.

However, due to too extensive commercial fishing, marine pollution and habitat destruction in the area, these three mani activities had negatively affected the size of the colony.

By 1910, it was estimated that there were approximately 1.5 million African Penguins left; a century later, the aquatic bird was classified as an endangered species. Today, there are only about 26 000 breeding pairs left around the world.

Walking in the scorching sun to eventually going barefoot along the wooden broadway leading to the Visitors Centre, the view was nothing short of majestical; penguins swimming amongst the people and the remarkable sight of the crystal-clear ocean.

Another kilometer or so of walking, you’ll find some penguins going about their daily business: preening and sunning themselves, guarding a nest, waddling along the sand like an old married couple and then transforming into sleek black-and-white torpedoes as soon as they enter the ocean.

With so many tourists coming to visit the little creatures we thought that we might be standing in a long queue. However, it was such a quick process to pay the R70.00 per adult ticket so we walked right through.

As much as I was thrilled to finally experience the sighting of penguins, I was a bit disappointed by how much time we actually spent there (about 20 minutes to be exact).

Visit Sanparks website here for more information here.

Until the next adventure.