It was finally time for the penguins at Boulders Beach. Susann had been looking forward to seeing the penguins since we left Sweden and she was quite excited about this place. The drive from Groot Constantia offered amazing scenery. We stopped for a short time on a hill overlooking Muizenberg and could see the beach stretching out into the distance.
Boulders Beach
Boulders Beach lies just next to Simon’s Town and it is famous for its colony of African penguins. Here the colony of penguins has grown from just a few breeding pairs in the 1980s to a few thousand these days. It is possible to get down to the beach for a small entrance fee, but we eventually opted for another possibility.
Seeing the Penguins
When we arrived at Boulders Beach our guide and driver Carlos suggested another option than going down to the beach. His suggestion was that we should start with the walk up along the path above the beach and afterward decide if we also would like to enter the beach.
So we walked the few hundred meters up along the path and there were penguins almost everywhere. A lot of their nests were just next to the path and we got within a meter of them while we continued to walk. We did not see much of the beach, but we did see penguins in abundance. There was also a rock hyrax hiding with the penguins. This distance relative to the elephants didn’t really fit in with the birds.
After the walk, we were more than satisfied with our sightings of penguins and as Carlos had mentioned, there was really no need to enter the beach itself. Instead, we got back to the car and continued onward towards Cape Point.
Join Us in Exploring Southern Africa
Here are all the posts belonging to the series about our trip to South Africa and Namibia. Read the parts by clicking on the links below:
- Part I: Doha, Qatar
- Part II: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Part III: Traveling To Namibia
- Part IV: Otjiwarongo, Namibia
- Part V: Cheetah Conservation Fund, Namibia
- Part VI: Etosha National Park, Namibia
- Part VII: Omaruru, Namibia
- Part VIII: Okahandja, Namibia
- Part IX: Windhoek, Namibia
- Part X: Cape Town, South Africa
- Part XI: Castle of Good Hope, South Africa
- Part XII: Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, South Africa
- Part XIII: Two Oceans Aquarium, South Africa
- Part XIV: Mariner’s Wharf, South Africa
- Part XV: Groot Constantia, South Africa
- Part XVI: Boulders Beach, South Africa
- Part XVII: Cape Point, South Africa
- Part XVIII: Chapman’s Peak Drive, South Africa
- Part XIX: Table Mountain, South Africa
- Part XX: Swellendam, South Africa
- Part XXI: Plettenberg Bay, South Africa
- Part XXII: Birds of Eden, South Africa
- Part XXIII: Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Part XXIV: Good Bye Africa!
- Part XXV: Trip Summary
Join us as we explore Southern Africa
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE PENGUINS. honestly, I think I may have been a penguin on my past life haha, they are super cute. I would love to visit that beach 🙂
Ana C, http://www.adreamersland.com
http://www.facebook.com/adreamersland
Haha, that sounds so familiar 🙂
I’m so glad you visited my country. I loved Boulders when we had a holiday around Cape Town. Normally I live near Johannesburg with my husband in a cottage on the property of our daughter and son-in-law and their three kids.
Would love to return to South Africa. The same applies to Namibia that we visited during the same trip. Both are amazing countries with so many more sights to explore. We spend most of our time in South Africa in Cape Town, but did spend two nights in Johannesburg (one on arrival and one on departure). Sadly we only had time for a evening tour of Johannesburg and Soweto, not enough for us to explore any area on our own. The city really felt huge on our short tour.