CAPE TOWN: SOUTH AFRICA: PENGUINS AT BOULDERS BEACH

In 1982, a nesting pair of African penguins (also called "jackass" penguins because of the braying-like noise they make) arrived on Boulders Beach, a series of granite-lined inlets located between Cape Town and Cape Point. These days there are over 2,000 penguins sharing the spot.

As we walked down the sidewalk from the parking lot to the beach, we were excited to see our first penguins. This is NOT the setting that I expected:

What look like partially submerged barrels are actually penguin condos:

There were rows of them, and all appeared to be occupied:

SOUTH AFRICA: THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

I liked South Africa from the moment we flew into the Cape Town airport, but after a morning on Chapman Peak Drive and a trip to the Cape of Good Hope, I was totally smitten by this magical country. Unending, rugged, stunning vistas like these would steal anyone's heart:

This is a part of the world I have read about since world history in fifth grade, and it was hard to believe I was seeing it with my own eyes. It's not hard to imagine Bartolomeu Dias sailing past this wild shore in 1488:

There are lots of stops along the way for those who love jaw-dropping scenery, and since we had gotten a very early start, we were the ONLY people at the first few places we visited: