Penguins of Boulders Beach

When thinking of animals in Africa, penguins are the last thing I think of. The heat, the scrubby bushes, the red earth do not lend themselves to images of large black and white birds normally surrounded by ice.

Imagine my surprise to learn that there are indeed penguins there, just in case you got bored of all the lions and elephants and cheetahs scattered about.

There is a population of penguins living about an hour outside Cape Town in South Africa on a place called Boulders Beach.

On the last day of the cricket match, I left from Newlands cricket ground and took the train out to Simonstown, which has the closest access to penguins. 

Whether the train is safe or not seems debatable. I suppose that goes for all of South Africa--it is safe unless you go to certain areas, act certain ways, or are unlucky. 

When I got to the station I couldn't find any ticket booth, and had to ask a group of teenage girls where to get one. Turns out you can only buy on one side of the tracks, so I had to cross over, get it, and come back. No one ever looked at my ticket the whole day.

I grabbed a window seat and listened to music on the way.

The train had some great graffiti on the outside.

We traveled for about 30 minutes through towns when suddenly, all at once, there was the ocean!

The tracks curved right around the coast, if was beautiful.

Simonstown was the last stop, and I got off the train there and just walked like I knew what I wanted until I came to a map of the town. The place with the penguins was another town over, about a 45 minute walk. I learned from a cab driver later that there are shuttles to take people straight from the train station to the penguins, but I didn't know then and didn't ask anyone.

So I marched along like I knew what I was doing through one or two very quaint sea towns. They reminded me of the beach town we used to go to as a kid, with little gift shops and ice cream parlors and people strolling.

It was hot and I put on sunscreen while I walked, which left me with a fun streaky burn by the end of the day.

While walking I had one of my only nervous moments in South Africa. A group of 3 men were walking towards me, across the entire sidewalk. Normally when moving to make way for someone the group condenses, but instead they split so that one was on the street side and two on the wall side, meaning I would have to walk between them. This was all done while staring directly at me but not speaking. As we got closer to the moment of passing, the one who had moved outwards who I'd now have to walk by slid his hand down his pants and held his crotch, all while looking right at me. I stared back without changing my expression while my mind raced with possible options of what to do if one of them tried to grab me. I kept my face set and my hands loose, ready to palm someone or yell for help if need be, and walked between them. We all kept our course and in the end nothing else happened.  I turned around after a few moments to make sure they weren't following me, and we went our separate ways. 

I finally made it to the penguin area, and paid 60 rand (~$5) with my last cash to get in to the walking path around their habitat. There were signs everywhere about how the penguins will bite if you try to touch them, and this one below to show you have entered a different world:

I started walking quickly through a wooded area on the boardwalk, assuming I would have to get to the beach to see them. Suddenly a movement caught my eye and I saw they were already there!!

It turns out the penguins do some nesting here in the woods, and also come in for shade.

They were amazing to see there, but nothing was as beautiful as coming around the bend to finally see them on the beach itself.

They were so funny to watch walk around, waddling with their wings held out. And then, once in the water, it was like a completely different animal, sleek and graceful and fast as anything.

There was a second beach area where people could actually swim and hang out, PLUS penguins. It was a strange combination to see. There were huge boulders everywhere that could be clambered on or swum by to get to more secluded areas. Every now and then a penguin or two would already be on the rocks.

(You just know he is thinking of jumping on that man's head)

I was walking through the knee deep (extremely cold) water and saw a penguin splashing around by some rocks. I kept my distance, but sat on a rock nearby to watch. This one appeared to be grooming itself by swimming around in the moving water. It went against the waves that had caught in this small area where it could swim in place, like one of those swimming tanks.

I happened to have the camera up when it suddenly decided it was done with swimming and started to come up on the rock right next to me!

It was at this point that a park ranger yelled at ME for getting to close to the penguin!!! No fair.

I spent a little more time climbing around the rocks and trying not to fall in the freezing water. Hats off to all the families swimming there.

There was an amazing series of outdoor stalls selling various beads and crafts near the park, but lucky for our budget and our suitcase I was out of cash and the nearest ATM was out of order. 

I walked back towards Simonstown, stopping in a few of the little stores on the way.

Speaking of suitcases, I actually bought a giant hideous one from a second-hand store along the way. Now that we are in Australia we are mostly done with having to drag our bags with us everywhere, and so I decided to trade in my multiple small bags for a big one. I carried it under my arm back to the train--this was on purpose, to show it was empty. I also wanted to save the wheels for actual travel in case the bag was crap. This turned out to be smart, as the bag arrived in Australia after it's very first outing with the entire bottom wheel/handle set torn off.

At the train station waiting to return were the same teenage girls I had met on the way in. Again, I grabbed a window seat, stowed my new giant suitcase under the chair, and headed back.

The train got crowded on the way back, and I was greatly aided by a friendly stranger who, after I asked if she knew the name of one stop, helped guide me to the right one. She even recognized my giant suitcase and helped me get it out from under the now-crowded seat, lifting it like it was a feather above everyone's head and handing it back once I was at the door. Thank you, whoever you are!

I had a lot if ideas for this trip, but I never thought I'd see penguins!! It was amazing to watch them wander and swim and see them so close.

I also really enjoyed the train, with an ocean breeze streaming in the windows, the click-clack of the tracks, the small children on the beach turning to wave as it went by.

I loved our time in South Africa, and I'm sad to see it end. It wasn't just that I liked the place itself, but also that I liked myself there. I went out exploring on my own and faced my fears in a new way. My six-months-on-the-road self. As a result, I had some amazing experiences I would have missed out on otherwise. A valuable lesson. I keep looking back at the pictures to make sure it was real. 

I wonder what Australia will bring!

Cape Town Day Out

Cape Town is an incredibly beautiful city. Table Mountain looms over everything, a soft fuzz of clouds caught on it's higher points. The ocean winks at you from the edges, and tall ship masts jut above the horizon. Colorful houses and incredible graffiti splashes the view.

While Subash was watching cricket at the stadium, I spent the last two days exploring.

Being short on money and long on time, I turned to the thrifter's greatest friend, the bus! Cape Town has a great MyCiti bus system. It takes a while and involved multiple transfers, but it felt safe and was ridiculously cheap in comparison to cabs and Uber. 

I got a MyCiti card from the convenience store down the street, and put on 100 rand (~$10.) The convenience store owner asked where I was staying and for how long, and I lied, pointing in a random direction and saying "a few months." 

I took the bus to Hout Bay, which I randomly chose because I read that there were boats going out to "Seal Island" from the harbour there. The trip involved two different buses, an hour and a half, and a group of very excitable children who chanted "beach! beach! beach!" nonstop for the last 15 minutes.

I didn't end up going to Seal Island, but I DID see seals in the harbour!! They are cape fur seals.

There were also some kids swimming in the harbour, and I bought a cold coffee from a little stand and watched them. They took turns jumping off one of the boats anchored nearby and skipped stones.

When I took the bus home it drove along the edge of rocky peninsulas, amazing blue water with huge boulders in it alongside. There were a number of sandy beaches, so I wrote down some of the bus stop names and determined to return more prepared for a beach day.

So it was that I set out again yesterday, repeating the bus trip, now in a bathing suit. I got off at a stop called Whale Rock, which had an area of water partially closed in with a low concrete wall.  I am not a strong swimmer, and I am afraid of great white sharks, or at least of being chomped by one, so I thought this world be a good place to start. (There ARE great white sharks here. You know that insane video of a shark leaping out of the water to catch a seal? That is around the aforementioned Seal Island). 

I walked around exploring the little tidal pools among the boulders. There were thousands and thousands of shells, sea anemones, snails, and sea weed.

There were three children playing nearby, and in that wonderful easy way kids have, came over to see what I was looking at. I showed them the anemone and they wanted me to "catch" it for them. I explained it was attached to the ground (I think??) and showed them how it shrunk up when you touched it. We looked around for a while, trying to catch a little minnow and picking up cool shells. It was so fun, and they kept asking me questions. Why is the seaweed on the rocks dried up like that? What is in this shell? Is it alive? It was fun to find things that I had thought were cool and pass them over to be investigated. 

Exploring cool places by yourself can be lonely--you see these neat exciting things and have no one to share it with. So I enjoyed teaming up with those kids for a little while, although who knows what their parents thought of this strange person staring into the water carrying a backpack full of junk. 

After a little while one of them turned and said, "we are going to go now. bye!" And they turned and clambered off, styrofoam cup with sea treasures in hand.

I briefly went into the nearby pool of water to "swim." I plopped my stuff down right next to a random family in the hopes that would keep anyone from stealing it while I was away. The water was very cold, and due to being trapped by the wall kind of filthy. I saw what I swear was blood floating by and after that couldn't really get into it, hah!! 

So after dipping up to my shoulders just to say I had, I headed back to the main sidewalk. I had a delicious melon sorbet at an icecream shop, and sat and watched the world for a bit.

I looked at a few souvenirs stalls that had popped up along the road. You see the same type of thing over and over--these amazing beaded wire animals, statues made from coke cans and tin cans, and carvings made from ebony. I love them! For some reason I haven't bought any yet, but I always stop to look and to covet. My child self would have flipped out over the beaded ones.

The bus was only running every hour on Sunday, so when I saw one going by I just got on.

I decided to go to the "Waterfront," where there was supposed to be a market. One bus, a short walk, and another bus, and there I was!

The market was amazing, full of very clever and unique crafts. Unfortunately, it was also fairly expensive, at least for our trip. 

One of my favorites was this guy who made animal sculptures out of the thousands of foam flip flop sandals that wash up on the beaches here. He glues them together and then carved them into shapes, resulting in these multicolored animals.

There were pillows, jewelry, screen print t-shirts, beautiful bowls, and more sculptures.

I really want one of those big beaded animal heads! 

I thought about going to the aquarium nearby but it was getting late so I figured I should head back before dark. 

Along the one road I saw all these people hanging out on the sidewalk. They had been there in the morning too. It was like they were waiting for a parade. I don't know why they were there. Another market maybe ?

It will remain a mystery.

I also finally got some photos of the graffiti and murals around, which is pretty amazing. The first one is my favorite.

And so, with a little more sunburn, and some shells in my pocket, I made it home again.

I had a great time exploring around. It is a good confidence booster to be forced to navigate a new place alone, and figure it out. You HAVE to figure it out, after all, and so you do. By the end of the second day I even gave someone else advice on the bus system, hah!

It isn't always easy for me--it may come across that way from the outside but rest assured there is a whole barrage of thoughts, fears, insecurities, loneliness and second-guessing that goes along with it. 

But I did it!! I found my way and made my own happiness. I strode through the bus doors and waved my shiny new bus pass, all my own, and explored the city.

It feels good.