When planning for a South African safari, I didn’t realize that I would be seeing penguins near Capetown.  What a great surprise to see penguins so up close and personal in their colonies.  I would visit both colonies along False Bay – Betty’s Bay and the Boulders – each during a private tour to Hermanus and Cape Point, respectively.

On the tour to see the whales at Hermanus, we stopped at the Betty’s Bay penguin colony to see the African penguins.  The African penguin is also referred to as black footed penguins or jackass penguins.  Due to the donkey like sounds the penguins make (weird to hear it), the name “jackass” stuck. We were the only visitors when we arrived (a very windy day) and for a small cash only fee, you have access to the wooden boardwalk through the reserve.  We were met in the parking lot by a rogue penguin which was funny – he wasn’t escaping too far nor could he really hide.

Walking along the boardwalk,  penguins are on both sides of you.  What made the visit even more whimsical was Mr. Oh, a Japanese tourist traveling on his own.  He spoke a little English but you didn’t need a common language to see how happy he was with the penguins – he was like a little kid running down the boardwalk with the biggest smile.  He was taking photos and pointing the penguins out to us (in case we missed them).  It made his day and subsequently made my day.

A few days later on the Cape Point tour, we would stop at Boulders in the Table Mountain National Park.  This is the main tourist stop for penguin viewing -a larger reserve with proper facilities for visitors (i.e. – restrooms and a gift shop).  Mr. Oh wasn’t on this tour so I walked along the boardwalk slowly watching a few penguins.  There were penguins sitting on their nests, penguins swimming, waddling on the beach and younger penguins not quite mature enough for the “penguin suit”.

This was a popular place for photographers with serious equipment – I wondered why if the penguins were so close they had lenses that were longer than my arm?  The penguins were so close, I could use my blackberry for a good photo.  When visiting Capetown as part of your safari trip (or normal trip), don’t forget to add the penguins to your list of animal sightings and bring your childlike wonder with you – channel Mr. Oh and be happy viewing the cute penguins.