Boulders Beach is located in the Cape Peninsula of South Africa, just 45 minutes drive from central Capetown. It’s a popular attraction because of its resident penguin colony. While we stayed in Simons Town we went to view the penguins on three separate occasions, we love them that much. The area where the majority of the penguins are is on Foxy Beach. A small fee of 35 Rand will allow you to view them from the fenced boardwalk.
Many penguins were nesting.
Penguins can desalinate sea water. They have special glands in their heads that filter out the salt. Their feathers do not stay waterproof. They have to come out of the sea to go through a molting process that takes approximately twenty days. At this time they do not go back into the water. They prepare for the molting process by fattening up since they won’t be accessing the ocean for food. They look very scruffy as they molt and lie still on the sand to conserve energy. People often mistakenly think they are sick.
Some of the penguins venture from the fenced area of Foxy Beach over to Boulders Beach. Here it is possible to get up close and personal with them. They are cute and cuddly, but don’t try to touch them. They can do some nasty biting. You can get right into the water and swim with them if you want. I wouldn’t recommend doing this outside of the summer months unless you like swimming in frigid water temperatures.
Free Exfoliation, No Need To Go To The Spa
One of our penguin viewings was on an extremely windy day, we actually had to walk backwards at times. When we turned into the wind we were getting pelted with sand. It really hurts when it hits your face. These African penguins are also referred to as Jackass penguins because of the donkey sound the male makes. A pair of penguins were up on the boardwalk as we were walking around. They stood and looked at us with curiosity and then waddled away as we got closer.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.