Penguins at Boulders Beach, Cape Town

We had a great time checking out the penguins at Boulders Beach when we were in Cape Town.  Boulders is near Simon's Town, less than an hours drive from Cape Town.  It's very well sign posted and the penguin colony is well set up with raised boardwalks taking you up close to the action.  It's great to lean on the fence and watch them waddle down to the water, becoming so graceful once they're in.  It's a bit stinky, as you'd imagine it would with thousands of animals that live on fish, but it's well worth a look.

Here's a bit of info on Boulders Beach:-

Boulders Beach is a sheltered beach made up of inlets between granite boulders, from which the name originated. It is located in the Cape Peninsula, near Simon's Town towards Cape Point, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is also commonly known as Boulders Bay.

It is a popular tourist stop because of a colony of African Penguins which settled there in 1982. Boulders Beach forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Although set in the midst of a residential area, it is one of the few sites where this vulnerable bird (Spheniscus demersus) can be observed at close range, wandering freely in a protected natural environment.

From just two breeding pairs in 1982, the penguin colony has grown to about 3,000 in recent years. This is partly due to the reduction in commercial pelagic trawling inFalse Bay, which has increased the supply of pilchards and anchovy, which form part of the penguins' diet.

Bordered mainly by indigenous bush above the high-water mark on the one side, and the clear water of False Bay on the other, the area comprises a number of small sheltered bays, partially enclosed by granite boulders that are 540 million years old.

The most popular recreational spot is Boulders Beach, but the penguins are best viewed from Foxy Beach, where newly-constructed boardwalks take visitors to within a few meters of the birds.