How a Visit to Some Penguins Led to a South African Braai
Oh my goodness, penguin colonies are fantastic! Jim and I decided to head out to explore the two penguin colonies on the mainland.
African Penguins can only be found in Southern Africa and there are only 2 penguin colonies on the mainland of South Africa. The drive along the coast was breathtaking and just the breath of fresh air we needed after five days of city living. A break from the buildings, city noises, and smells(!) was welcomed.
I realized that many of you did NOT pay attention in geography class (see! geography IS useful in the real world!) so I thought I would add a map to orient you to where we are and where our adventure took us.
But first, A geography lesson
South Africa
After many requests for more penguins pictures and to satisfy all of your grandchildren, I thought I would add some additional pictures and videos from Tuesday here. Since not ALL of my Facebook friends want their newsfeed blown up with adorable penguin pictures (I really aught to unfriend those folks, right? haha) and not ALL of my friends follow our adventures on facebook, it made sense to throw the pictures here. So, for your viewing pleasure, I’ve added many photos and some videos to the end of this post.
Penguins!
After visiting the Boulders Penguin Colony, we took off for a drive along the coast to the Stony Point Colony. I had read that the Stony Point Colony was less busy, and it certainly seemed more off the beaten path, and it was a fraction of the cost to get into the park: 25 Rand (US$1.77) vs 170 Rand (US$12.00) at Boulders.
Some may think if you’ve seen one colony, you’ve seen them all, but this is one of the advantages of the “slow travel” we do. There is no need to pick one and the drive from one to the other looked to be along the water, so why not explore? I had NO idea that it would be so absolutely gorgeous, and that Jim and I would be reduced to only the ability to utter the word wow every thirty seconds.
There are many points to pull off the road to park and take pictures and a number of places to access beaches/the water, although the beaches along here can be dangerous for swimming due to the rough waters. And the water is waaaay too cold for me, haha! I think the current water temperature in False Bay is like 66 degrees F. I won’t even go in the Gulf of Mexico if the water temperature is less than 82 degrees. So, needless to say, I wasn’t thinking about swimming.
We decided to stop at an overlook to take in the awe-inspiring scenery and stretch our legs and what a good decision that was! There were three dogs running around playing, exploring, and being just adorable: one a golden retriever, one a jack russell and one a chocolate lab that reminded me of Max. As we all know, I can’t resist an opportunity to pet a dog. Petting the dogs turned into chatting with the dog owners, which turned into an invitation to a South African braai at their place the next night.
Was I just slightly a little worried about going to some random strangers’ place after fifteen minutes of chatting and petting their dogs? Of course! I believe people are inherently good but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be cautious. These folks seemed like nice people but how often do strangers invite strangers to their house after such a conversation? I texted my mom their names and address and told her I’d text when we got home. That was my just-in-case-these-people-are-serial-killers safety net. (LMAO)
What an amazing family and evening it turned out to be. A traditional South African Braai is much like a traditional American BBQ. They're typically to celebrate something. This evening turned into a celebration of their eldest daughter passing her matric exams (the school-leaving exams, which are government-administered, are known as the "matric exams.” You have to pass the the exams to graduate from high school). Much sparkling wine was opened (legal drinking age is 18 here) and their daughter is quite the expert at sabering.
It was an evening full of laughter and stories. Talking of politics in their country and the US. Oh was there a lot to talk about (umm, America, what have we gotten ourselves into this time??). Hearing about their travels abroad and experiences made us laugh and laugh. Truly, it was so fun to sit into the hours of the night laughing and being included with their family and friends.
I can’t wait to hear from them (and I hope they liked us enough to hang out again!).
Now…for all the penguin lovers out there…Enjoy!
