Friday, January 11, 2013

Cape Town - Day Four

Today we were supposed to go diving with the  sharks.  I say "supposed to" because mother nature didn't cooperate.  We woke up to a rainy sky and quickly received a call canceling the trip due to high sea states.  The boys were upset and some tears were shed, but frankly I was a bit relieved. I have a history with sea sickness, and somethings time just doesn't ease the memory.  As cool as it would be to swim with the sharks, I'm sure me barfing or dry heaving the entire trip would put a damper on things.


Instead we headed out to Imhoff Farm.  It didn't exactly match the pictures we has seen online.  Dave and I were a bit let down.  The boys were happy with the reptile exhibit; Colin was thrilled with the kudu and ostrich biltong (jerky) he bought in one of the shops; and lunch was really good too, so I guess it was worth the trip.




Everywhere we have driven outside of town we have seen sign after sign warning about baboons.  The funny thing is we haven't seen a single baboon.  We've seen lots of "caution baboon" signs, a few baboon rangers (says so on their jackets!) and some baboon poop (as identified by Colin), but no baboons.  I'm afraid of baboons, but at the same time I always enjoy seeing them, from a safe distance, or from inside my car.  Maybe we will spot some tomorrow instead of just more baboon signs.



We stopped at Long Beach to watch the surfers.  It was the first time the boys or I have seen surfers in real life before.  I would love to learn to do that, it looked like so much fun.  Although maybe I would want to surf someplace with warmer water.  Grayson bored of the surfing quickly and found a friend to play with while the rest of us were checking out the action on the waves.




In the afternoon we headed out to the beach.  Boulders Beach.  The thing that sets Boulders Beach apart is penguins.  We stopped there earlier this week on the way out to The Cape of Good Hope to get a quick look at the penguins, but the boys wanted a chance to swim there.  Good decision, it is a sheltered beach with calm waters. There are boulders to climb on, sand to dig in and every once in a while a penguin swims up to see what you are doing. It made for a great afternoon.




5 comments:

Terio said...

Not too bad although since you didn't get to dive with the sharks, we can do that together when I go there with y'all on your return trip!!

Shannon said...

I thought about titling the picture with Colin in the water and the penguin walking by "Is the water cold? Dude a penguin just walked by, what do you think??" And yes that water was freaking freezing, no wonder the penguins are hanging out there.

Nomads By Nature said...

I was wondering about the temps. When we were there it was bitterly cold with a high wind and nobody was even thinking about swimming in the water with them. Then I saw these pictures and wondered how you timed a beautiful warm day to be on the beach and in the water with the penguins! It makes sense that the water was still cold. I'm guessing it was like going to the beach in Maine in August - mind numbingly freezing. But what a great adventure!! Were the boys impressed with their beach companions?

Just US said...

You (well, the boys) swam with penguins! How super dooper cool is that!

Shannon said...

COLD would probably be a better description the cool. The penguins are cute cute cute.