Cape Town, Penguins & Sharks – Our African Adventure: Part Four

In the final part of our South African adventure, this time we travelled to Cape Town, Simon’s Town and Boulder’s Beach. This part of our trip involved penguins, cage diving with sharks, and a special Great Dane! Read on…

Cape Town

The best thing about this area is not the city itself, but the stunning landscape and magnificent Table Mountain. Cape Town was loud, busy, and not my thing at all, but we weren’t there to see the city… My Dad once lived near Cape Town, and he gave us a 3-hour route to drive around the coast instead. This involved multiple stops at places to admire the beautiful landscape, mountains and coastline.

One such place was Scratch Patch. An old minerals and gems mine, this had been turned into a digging and minigolf attraction. Imagine a ball pool full of gems, where you can pick out the ones you like… And we were the only adults taking part, sorry not sorry! Check out my awesome gems…

Penguins at Boulder’s Beach

Penguins in Africa? Yes, that’s right! Sounds weird, but it’s true… Our next stop is Boulder’s Beach. In 1983, penguins first turned up here from Dyer Island, which is near Gansbaai, and they never left. They set up home at Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town near Cape Town. This sheltered beach is made up of inlets between granite boulders from which the name originated.

Part of Boulder’s Beach is blocked from the public to help protect the penguin colony from human interaction. There are boardwalks you can follow to view them. However, we visited a different part of the beach, which is beautiful to swim in and open to the public. You have to climb over, under and through the boulders. The braver penguins swim over to this part of the beach, so we had a good chance of swimming with a penguin!

Sharks, seals and dolphins (by AJ)

AJ here! This trip gave me the chance to fulfil one of my bucket-list dreams. I have always wanted to go shark diving, ideally with Great White sharks. Although I did see some sharks, unfortunately, there are no longer any Great Whites in the Cape Town area. So, instead, I had an amazing time with the Apex Shark Expedition cage diving experience.

On the way to the diving location, we saw a massive pod of Common dolphins, around 200 of them and some with calves! Next, we stopped off at Sea Island, named because 60,000 seals live there! It was amazing to see these wonderful animals in their natural habitat.

When we got to the dive location, the water was a little choppy, and as they lowered the cage over the side, I was a little apprehensive. But, once I saw the first shark, I was in like a shot! The water was bright blue with moving shadows. Suddenly, around 20 Bronze Whaler sharks appeared, all clamouring for the bait balls!

I spent around 25 minutes in the cage, going up and down, being bashed about by the waves. Watching the sharks feeding and swimming past, I tried to keep every part of myself in the cage at all times, while holding my breath it was hard but magical!

Just Nuisance – a special Great Dane

Back to me, Kelly, and to Simon’s Town! We spent more time here than Cape Town, as this is the first place my Dad lived when he moved to South Africa in the 70s. We used to go on holiday here when we lived in South Africa and, of course, it has the penguin beach! It was also a naval town during WW2 and is famous for the only dog ever to be officially enlisted in the Royal Navy!

Just Nuisance was a stunning Great Dane who ruled the roost in Simon’s Town. Between 1939 and 1944, he served as Noble Seaman at HMS Afrikander, a Royal Navy shore establishment in Simon’s Town. He died in 1944 at the age of 7 and was buried with full military honours… and he had a wife! They even had an official ceremony for the wedding.

Just Nuisance has a special place in my heart, as I have many fond memories of having my photo taken with his statue… Can you guess my age in each image?

And that’s a wrap folks! If you have enjoyed our South African adventure, why not book a 121 and we can share all the details in person? And, of course, we’ll make time to talk business with you too!

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