Penguins and Cape Point

Jim and Connie in the Deep South

On April 3,  our group boarded our buses and drove south out of Cape Town, headed to the Cape of Good Hope.

Once at Cape Point, we hiked up to the lighthouse above.  You could also take a cable car, but we all chose to walk this time.  Stunning!  One view I couldn't get out of my mind is how the clouds hung below us.

Clouds over a farm below

Most of us didn't know that Cape of Good Hope is not where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet, nor is it the southernmost tip of Africa (another point slightly to the east is),. But we were still pretty far south.

After a picnic lunch near the Lighthouse, we got back on the bus for our drive back to Cape Town.  We stopped only for Boulders Beach.  This is a National park inhabited by penguins.  I thought we would be able to stroll the beach where the penguins are, but we weren't allowed.  There were "observatory" walkways from which you could easily see a lot of penguins going about their daily life.  Some penguins were standing point, some appeared to be on nests, but the vast majority were lying in the sun on the sand doing absolutely nothing.

Standing point at Boulders Beach

I'm sitting on eggs (I think)

Just having a day at the beach!

A couple of interesting facts about penguins that I didn't know.  They are able to desalinate their bodies using special glands by their eyes that excrete salt.  They  date back 60 million years.  Although they are birds, their wings have morphed over time into flippers.  They can swim at speeds up to 60 km, dive to depths of 300 feet, and stay submerged for up to 18 minutes before coming up for air.

We saw only African penguins, but our students' favorite from pictures on the wall was this more feather-headed penguin.

Or, is it Joe who is feather-headed?