South Africa Day 7 - Cape Point, Paths with a view and Penguins

We enjoy a lie in after the long drive yesterday, and rise in the late morning with some coffee, cereal and toast. Today's adventure is a drive down to Cape Point, one of the most Southern points of Africa. Cape Point is on the infamous Cape Of Good Hope, the sight of many sailing disasters over the years. The warm Indian ocean meets the cold waters of the Atlantic around this Southern tip of South Africa, leading to dangerous currents and treacherous conditions. It's a beautifully sunny day as we drive down to the parking area, so by the time we've walked to the welcoming point we're already quite hot! We decide to skip the funicular to take us up to the lighthouse, and opt instead to take the path, stopping to catch our breath and take in the views along the way. 

There are dossies up here, hiding in the shade of the rocks, and lots of little dark lizards too, happier out in the open soaking up the heat of the sunshine. The area around the lighthouse itself is very busy, but there's just time to grab a few snaps of the expansive ocean and the signpost pointing to various cities around the world. 

We grab a quick drink from the shop, have a wander around the point and head back down the path at a leisurely pace to pick up the cars and head to our next stop, Boulders beach. It's a small fee to get onto the wooden walkway that's been build from the road down to the waters edge, and we can already spot what we came here to see in some of the undergrowth. 

The African penguin lives happily on the shore here, and as we near the seafront we see more and more of them nesting, wandering along the sand or just enjoying the sunshine. 

Down on the beach there's a viewing platform, and we can see hundreds of birds on the shoreline and swimming in the sea. It's a crazy sight to see penguins here, living essentially in the wild, just outside Africa's southernmost city. These creatures are native to the south western coastal region of South Africa, with the colonies now listed as endangered species. We take lots of pictures, and wander back to the cars, stopping for an ice cream along the way. The family have ordered pizzas for this evening so we pick up some salad and head back to the cottages for a relaxed dinner, as the sun sets and we turn in for an early night, ready to get up for the early wedding in the morning.