There is one wonderful beach in South Africa called Boulders Beach. It is on the coast of Simon's Town, about half way from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope. Look at the shot from above: you can see it in the lower left part.
Why is it so interesting and attractive that tourists traveling to the Cape of Good Hope very often stop by on the way and stay for a while?
Maybe the huge boulders because of which the beach is named? Or maybe ... wait ... what are those dark spots there, on the strip of sand between the water and the boulders?
Oooh, these are the penguins! This is what makes this beach so remarkable - there is rather large colony of African penguins which is named Boulders Penguin Colony! These birds do not live in the snow and are found only on the southwestern coast of the African continent.
Look, these cute birds will guide you along the path to the beach. This has been their territory for quite a few years, so they roam very freely here and are not afraid of you. They are the hosts here, and the people are guests, so be polite and well-mannered.
There is a ticket office at the entrance in front of this short path, where you will buy a ticket to visit the beach. I don't remember exactly how much it costs, but not too expensive. Do not throw it away, you will still need it.
On this beach, in addition to a simple walk on the sand between the boulders, you can swim in the summer and the penguins can keep you company.
However, you will almost certainly have to wet your feet: if you want to go a little further, then depending on the height of the water, you will need to walk either on wet sand or flooded with water, and also, if you wish, to climb a little over stones.
As a reward, you will get the opportunity to watch these at the same time cute and brutal, serious birds in all sorts of situations, from all sides (but, of course, you sould not bother them too much, chase and scare them).
You can take a photo of leisurely lonely walk along the coast ...
... or the company of those who care for their feathers ...
... sneak up close to the penguin basking on the stones ...
... and, of course, you probably alarm him. Although they feel quite calm, they do not let people to get close to themselves. They can cautiously show curiosity in response, or they may perceive annoying visitors with aggression.
Therefore, it is highly forbidden to reach out to them and try to touch them: they will most likely bite very painfully, they have sharp beaks.
African penguins are an endangered species and are listed in the Red Data Book, mainly due to the fact that in the early 20th century people uncontrollably collected their eggs for food, up to several hundred thousand eggs per year, and in just one century from one and a half million population remained no more than 10%.
This colony on Boulders Beach was formed in the 1980s, when one or two pairs of penguins first came and stayed here. Now, according to various sources, from 2 to 3 thousand of birds live there, and they showed real attachment to this place: once, after an oil spill in the vicinity, people transported all the birds to another place with similar conditions, but every penguin of the colony returned to this beach.
For some people, one hour is enough to visit this wonderful place, but we wandered here for at least three or four hours, and we didn't even swim with them (this is best done in summer, in December-February). Still, for me, penguins are a curiosity, especially those that do not live in ice and snow, but fell good in a warm climate.
By the way, these pink spots around the eyes are glands that help penguins to quickly cool themselves through the thin skin in these places, so they are not afraid of overheating in warm weather conditions on land.
We approached the issue of visiting penguins quite seriously: we settled in Simon's Town in the evening, looked at the beach from afar and managed to walk along the free and very cute Willis Walk trail, which goes among the bushes growing along the beach, and there we saw the first penguins.
They appear to usually nest in holes dug in the sand or in the ground. In general, it was unexpected for me to see them among the trees and bushes :)
And the very next day, from the very early morning, we went for a walk along the Boulders beach. It was very interesting and absolutely everyone liked it, I just didn't want to leave there. In addition to the Boulders beach itself, you can also visit Foxy Beach, after following the Willis Walk to the end.
At the entrance to Foxy Beach you will need the same ticket purchased to visit Boulders Beach - you can use it to go to both places. This beach is interesting because there are equipped observation platforms right next to the very concentration of the penguin colony, where you simply cannot walk along the Boulders beach if you are not a penguin (and it is forbidden to invade directly into the habitat of the penguin colony).
There is the main habitat of the colony, many penguins, incubating chicks, as well as the chicks themselves.
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I will show more photos of chicks sometime later (it seems to me that too many penguins can get bored at once? :)), but I can say right now that it is worth visiting both places - these will be different impressions.
I liked Boulders Beach itself more for the opportunity to walk more freely next to the penguins, and not only look at them from afar because of the viewpoint fence. However, on this beach only adult independent penguins are available to see.
And if you are traveling with a dogs, you cannot come to both beaches with them, and on the Willys Walk they must be on a leash.
It's better to watch the photos in high resolution.
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P.S.One small but important note. Because this post was made for the TravelFeed.io project through its interface, it seems to me that sometimes all links may work correctly only when viewing through TravelFeed.io interface. This applies to both text links and high-resolution image links. So, if some links don't work, but you are interested in them — follow the links at the beginning or at the end of the post and wathc the post on TravelFeed.io.
Camera: OLYMPUS E-M1 Mark II
You can also see my photos in my blog LJ and in my profile on NatGeo
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