Africa Day Eleven: Cape Point And Capetown: Botanical Gardens And Penguins!!!!! It Doesn’t Get Better Than This.

Africa Day Eleven: Cape Point And Capetown: Botanical Gardens And Penguins!!!!! It Doesn’t Get Better Than This.

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After lunch we headed north, now along the eastern shore of the Cape Peninsula, admiring the spectacular views of the ocean along the way. cape-point-penguins-6

When we saw this sign we knew we were nearing our destination, Boulder Beach, home of a colony of African or ‘jackass penguins’. These penguins are they only species that live on the African continent. cape-point-penguins-1

I was looking forward to seeing these penguins since they would be the eleventh species, of the seventeen species that live on our planet,  that I have seen and photographed.  And it didn’t take long to see one as we walked along the windy and rocky shore. cape-point-penguins-12

I have always loved these fascinating birds.  And I  loved them even more observing them in the wild. I will never forget my first sighting of the gregarious chinstrap penguins on Bailey Head on Deception Island Antarctica. I have seen chinstrap, gentoo, emperor, king ,rockhopper, macaroni, magellanic. galapagos, adelie, little or fairy,  and now african or jackass penguin. cape-point-penguins-9

The penguins living in South Africa nest from March to May so the chicks were pretty large when we visited. cape-point-penguins-14

I could spends hours watching these curious critters frolicking on the shore or come in from the ocean. Here is a link to a video I uploaded to my YouTube Channel. https://youtu.be/Iz2sUErWo4Ucape-point-penguins-26

And here is a link to video I uploaded which  will show how they got there name, there braying actually does sound very much like a donkey or jackass. https://youtu.be/Ko53wb-fBD4cape-point-penguins-38

Like all of their cousins i have seen these sociable birds provided us  a delightful show. cape-point-penguins-21

There were other shore birds to be seen along the beautiful coast.cape-point-penguins-35

But the penguins, in my opinion sure were the cutest. Here is a link to some more photographs of our visit to Boulder Beach and the penguins. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/africa-october-2016/nggallery/africa-october-2016/South-Africa-Boulder-Beach-penguins-October-19-2016-cape-point-penguins-32

We now drove north back to  Capetown and arrived at the famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens late in the afternoon. capetown-botanical-gardens-2

As some of you who followed my adventures in Australia, I love to visit botanical gardens.  I can wander for hours through the trees, flower gardens and native plants that are so carefully cultivated for our sensory pleasure and education. capetown-botanical-gardens-8

Our guide showed us this  beautiful and exotic flower native to South Africa, the bird of paradise, blooming throughout the gardens. capetown-botanical-gardens-6

We learned so much about the native floral on our visit as we roamed the pathways of the gardens with spectacular views of Table Mountain in the background. Here is a link to some more photographs of our visit s to the penguins and botanical gardens. https://keepyoureyespeeled.net/africa-october-2016/nggallery/africa-october-2016/South-Africa-Capetown-Botanical-Gardens-October-19-2016-capetown-botanical-gardens-11

Penguins and gardens, what a perfect way to spend an afternoon. We made our way back to our lodging, and after a short rest  had a delicious dinner at the Millers Thumb  restaurant. It was another great day on our African adventure. capetown-botanical-gardens-27

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste it, to experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”- Eleanor Roosevelt”capetown-botanical-gardens-23