Rainbows and Penguins

Waving good-bye to Cape Town, we looked forward to seeing the penguins at Stony Point Reserve.  There are penguin colonies closer to Cape Town, but they are more complicated to reach, the traffic can be monstrous, and there can be busloads of tourists.

Since we were heading east along the Garden Route, this was a fine place to see them as we had the reserve nearly all to ourselves.  Betty's Bay was cool, breezy, and the penguins seemed hunkered down while a double rainbow appeared to the south. 

These African penguins are sometimes known as Jackass penguins because of the braying sound they make.  The penguins found at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Cannery Row in Monterey, California are African penguins.

We did not hear them making any noises while we were there.

There was a fee to enter, and we paid, but you could see many penguins all over.  The surrounding community insists on the fence because the penguins will invade their gardens and leave messy calling cards.

Four types of cormorants live here as well.

The one in front is the mother.

This chick is old enough to molt his/her down into feathers.

Good-bye penguins!

Table Mountain

Steve and I did at least one of the things you should do when you go to Cape Town; you go to Table Mountain and ride the cable car to the top to explore and take in the view.

Our last day began with a gorgeous Sunday morning, and we arrived at Table Mountain before a long line had formed to ascend.

Once at the top, it is impossible to not appreciate the view.  There was the typical marine overcast, but we could see Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was held for so long and which we did not visit), the soccer stadium (which was close to our Airbnb apartment), the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town's port area, and Table Bay.

I particularly enjoyed seeing pockets of water and the orange, brown, and light green lichen.

Many steep ravines with trails surrounded Table Mountain.

Discovering white lichen was a first for me.

Dassies are common on Table Mountain.  Very surprisingly, they are the closest relative to elephants.  They are also known as rock hyrax.

Time to descend the mountain.

Click on the photo to see some rock climbers.  Look for a person with red pants.

Once down, Jim and I took an Uber car to Sandy Bay, one of many beaches.  We had to walk about half a mile down a well-traveled path to get to it.  Many people were out doing their thing on this beautiful day.

Our rental apartment had a beautiful set of windows along its southern wall with both morning sunrises and evening sunsets.  For our last night in Cape Town, this sunset was perfect.