Mary Margaret and I decided that this weekend would be one of play. All boat work was put aside and the camera was brought out. For today, we thought we would head off to Boulder Beach, which is just a few miles toward the Cape from us. It is famous for its flock of Jackass Penguins. These are formally known as African Penguins but are typically call Jackass Penguins because they bray like jackasses.

The Jackass Penguins are an endangered species as their known population has dwindled over the last 100 years from over 1.5 million breeding pairs to just fewer than 29,000. Our local flock has been using Boulder Beach since 1982 as a nesting ground and to help protect and encourage its population, a Visitor's Center with wooden boardwalks that go down to the beach has been constructed. The boardwalks allowed us to get close to the penguins but not disturb their nests. One can go down to the beach next to where the colony is but you are discouraged from going on to the colony's beach for obvious reasons.

When we arrived we were greeted with a few of penguins swimming and feeding in the shallows, and a few hundred sunning themselves on the beach and on the rocks. A number of the growing chicks were flopped together on the sand while the adults and yearlings were walking around and socializing. We could hear some of the breeding penguins braying like jackasses as they kept their eggs warm up in the bushes above the beach. We read that this colony grew from 1 pair in 1982 to 3900 in 2005. However, since then, it has diminished to 2100 breeding pairs.

I will post a number of pictures that we took so you can appreciate what we experienced. It was really neat and we were able to get up close and personal with a few were that curious about us.

After touring the Visitor's Center, we returned to our car and went over to the Long Beach Mall in Noordhoek. We wanted to replenish some of the perishables which we had eaten this last week. It is so convenient having a car to run around with it. Especially when the nearest supermarket is over 10 kilometers away.

Tomorrow, we meet up with our South African friends, Johan and Christie. We are meeting in one of the wine districts that Cape Town is famous for. After a little wine tasting at what are called wine farms here in South Africa, we will go to a nice restaurant that is nearby. They have also invited us to come spend a night at their home while we are in South Africa. They live just north of Cape Town and their house abuts next to a forest. It sounds beautiful. Johan has written us saying that they are anxious to introduce us to South African Braai. This is a BBQ, South African style. We are so looking forward to doing that also.