2009-10-05 - Close Encounters of the Penguiny Kind

We had been looking at the weather forecast for the week, and it looked kind of dismal (forecasted rain) for Wednesday and Thursday. So we decided we had better go to Simonstown to see the penguins while the weather was still good.

The drive over there on the R310 and M5 is actually quite nice, especially once you get to the shores of False Bay. When we drove there in 2006, we saw whales from the shore (ca. Fish Hoek/Kalk Bay); they were hopping and frolicking about. But this time no whales jumping around, hmmf, although at one spot we did see some whales swimming around...

When we got to Boulder's, there was some kind of military activity going on, and this big noisy helicopter was circling around close to the penguin beach (but not over the beach itself). It seemed like the penguins weren't too thrilled about such an intrusion, and many of them were hiding under the boardwalk or in the shrubs. If they were out on the beach, they'd run under the boardwalk the moment the helicopter started getting too close. A lot of penguins were also moulting, making them a bit lethargic, but also rather funny looking, with all the pin feathers sticking out from awkward places. The rest of the penguins were out at sea to feed. Bad timing for penguin watching on our part, but oh well. We did see a lot of cute penguins...

There are several different places where people can visit the penguins. There's one place that is particularly crowded; this is where most of the busloads of people go. The other parts of the penguin colony are a bit more relaxed. At one of the more secluded areas, we spotted a pair of penguins hiding under some steps. Cute photo op right there, and Ms. Penguin tried to introduce Mini Wolfgang (our traveling plush penguin) to the real penguins. The real penguins tried to bite him though, hehe. And then, when we started climbing the steps, one of the penguins bit Ms. Penguin on the toe! How sweet! :-D

After penguin watching and buying a few souvenirs, we were hungry, and drove off to this farm where we had a great dinner in 2006, hoping to get some lunch. Unfortunately, the restaurant and most of the shops and activities are closed on Mondays. Bah. We just decided to keep it simple, and bought some ginger ale (Frankies!), droewoers, and tortilla chips to snack on, and drove back to Stellenbosch.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called De Volkskombuis. We were also there in 2006 and liked it so much we were determined to go back if we were ever in Stellenbosch again. Mr. Penguin didn't get a starter, but Ms. Penguin was getting her appetite back, so she ordered the Cape Malay wontons - one wonton filled with bobotie and served with homemade chutney, one wonton filled with waterblommetjies (water lilies) and mushrooms, and one wonton filled with snoek (a sort of mackerel-like fish) and served with grape and rooibos syrup. All of these were lovely, but the waterblommtjies were quite fascinating. It was the first time Ms. Penguin (and Mr. Penguin too) had ever tasted them, even after so many trips to South Africa.

For the main, Ms. Penguin had the Cape Country Sampler - a dish with bobotie, waterblommtjies bredie (water lily stew with lamb), and chicken pie. All three were delicious in their own way. The bobotie was nice and fruity, but without chunks of fruit like Mr. Penguin makes. The stew was very flavorful. The chicken pie was very tasty and "comforting." Mr. Penguin got the oven-roasted honey and orange duck legs, served with risotto and steamed vegetables. We both had the Middelvlei Pinotage 2008 with our meal.