QUICK VIEW:
The Netflix series, Penguin Town, popularized the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony in Simon’s Town. The area attracts thousands of penguins to its safe nesting area. A well-maintained wooden boardwalk allows visitors a great view of these special creatures.
At Hacking the Road, we are dedicated to finding ways to help people live a Better Life ... on the Road! We are full-time travelers and experience seekers, and we want to share our journey with you. We believe that travel opens hearts and minds, and makes the world a better place. Join us as we explore each new destination.
We are Rainman and Tricia ... and we are the Road Hackers!
As Road Hackers, we specialize in building itineraries that allow us to discover diamonds in the rough all over the world.
These amazing places are usually well known to local communities, but tend not to make most tourist itineraries.
South Africa's Simon's Town is one of these overlooked diamonds in the rough!
Most international tourists visiting South Africa focus on Cape Town and the Wine Routes.
If you are interested in active travel and natural beauty, then Simon's Town should be on your Western Cape itinerary.
Our visit to Simon's Town was one of the highlights of a 3-month stay in South Africa's Western Cape.
Simon's Town is a perfect half-day excursion, leaving plenty of time for lunch and sightseeing in Kalk Bay (just up the coast).
Pro Tip: Before you head to Simon's Town, be sure to watch the Penguin Town docu-series on Netflix. This charming series documents the quirky life of penguins living in the Simon's Town penguin sanctuary.
The Boulders community is where the Netflix documentary Penguin Town was filmed
It's hard not to like a place that protects penguins!
Join us as we share our experience exploring this special seaside town in South Africa.
Getting to Penguin Town
After watching the Penguin Town documentary, we were excited to see Simon's Town for ourselves. What a treat!
As we set off, there was a lot of excited talk about the stars of the Penguin Town series--the Bougainvilleas, the Culverts, Mrs. Wheelbarrow, the Courtyards, and the Car Park Gang. Would we actually have a sighting?
Simon's Town is on the southeastern side of the Cape Peninsula, about a 40-minute drive (23 miles/37 km) from the center of Cape Town.
Simon's Town is located on the southeastern side of the Cape Peninsula, a 40-minute drive from the center of Cape Town
Our home base was in Gordon's Bay, so we had a bit of extra driving along the N2 (31 miles/50 km further).
Once in Cape Town, we took the M3 highway all the way to Westlake. From there, we merged onto the M75 and headed over to Muizenberg Beach.
Driving south along the coast, we passed through the beautiful seaside villages of St. James and Kalk Bay. After Kalk Bay, we changed over to the M4 for the final stretch through Fishhoek, Glencairn, and Dido Valley.
The excitement grew as we passed the Simon's Town Naval Base--the largest naval base in South Africa.
Arriving in the parking lot closest to Boulders Beach, we knew we were in the right place!
Hawkers were everywhere selling their wares to any tourist that would listen. The parking lots were full of tour buses.
Colorful vendor stalls were selling all kinds of souvenirs at Boulders Beach
Our little group was ready for the Penguin Town experience!
A Bit of Simon's Town History
The original Simon's Town settlement was established by the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) in 1743, and it just so happens that our family shares some notable history with the town.
So, this was a home-coming of sorts!
Our great ... great ... great ... great grandfather emigrated from Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands) in the early 1750s. As an employee of the DEIC, he began his service as the official Simon's Town Surgeon in 1753. He later became the DEIC Chief Surgeon for the Cape in 1761.
The DEIC and the Dutch colonists dominated the Cape Colony all the way through 1795. The British took over at the end end of that year and immediately began fortifying the coastline--including Simon's Town.
Between 1795 and 1796, the British navy built a Martello (a defensive tower) to help with the defense of Simon's Town against possible Dutch and French attacks.
The Martello was also used as a navigational marker for ships entering the bay. The tower was more than 26 feet/8 meters high, 42 feet/13 meters wide, with walls about 6 feet/1.8 meters thick.
The British Royal Navy controlled the naval base until South Africa became a Union in 1910. The South African Navy operated the base from that point.
The African Penguin Back Story
Only seventeen penguin species are left in the world today. The penguins that choose to live in Simon's Town are African Penguins and are unique to Southern Africa.
South Africa has classified the African Penguin as a protected species.
The African penguin lives in Simon's Town, and is an endangered species
Conservationists estimate that there were approximately 1.5 million penguins nesting in Southern Africa at the turn of the 19th Century. Today, only about 10% of that number has survived.
The African Penguin diet consists primarily of sardines, anchovies, and the occasional squid. Unfortunately, sardine numbers are in decline, which severely impacts the fat content in the penguin's local diet. This environmental change has limited the health and growth of the penguin colonies.
Other factors have also impacted their survival odds, including climate change, refuse in the ocean, and oil spills.
The African Penguin has had many factors impacting its survival
A factor contributing to their survival is the family dynamic. African Penguins are monogamous once they mate, and return to the same nesting area annually once they reach maturity.
After their chicks are born, African Penguin parents can consume 2.2 lbs/1 kg each day. This requires that they regularly swim up to 12 miles/20 km offshore in search of food for their growing offspring. That is committed parenting!
Penguin parents are dedicated to their offspring, spending much of their time & energy providing food for the young chicks
There are only two major penguin colonies on the South African mainland:
Another sixteen African Penguin colonies survive on islands just off the South African coast.
Our Penguin Town Experience!
We were excited to begin our exploration of Penguin Town
Back to our Penguin Town excursion ...
The Penguin Town series wasn't actually filmed in Simon's Town. The community around Boulders Beach (a few kilometers south) was used as the backdrop for our favorite characters.
The area around Boulders Beach is part of the protected Table Mountain National Park system.
The Boulders Beach area is part of the protected Table Mountain National Park system
Boulders Beach gets its name from the massive boulders that shelter the beach from the pesky Cape winds. These boulders are said to be over 500 million years old!
This is a great swimming beach, because the waters are quite calm and the beautiful white-sand beach extends for almost a kilometer. There aren't many penguins on the Boulders Beach side of the bay. Most of the penguins live and breed in a nearby cove called Foxy Beach.
Foxy Beach is the preferred spot for the penguins, and a great place to watch them
According to conservationists, penguin nesting in the Foxy Beach area really didn't start in earnest until after 1982. The arrival of the penguins coincided with the ban on commercial pelagic trawling in False Bay. This prohibition helped to stabilize and grow the local sardine and anchovy stock in the area.
Wildlife experts speculate that the penguins may have seen the human community as a safeguard against many of their natural predators. The penguins regularly use the surrounding human infrastructure as part of their eco-system.
Survival for the penguin colony now includes taking advantage of surrounding human infastructure
Boulders Beach is connected to Foxy Beach by a narrow frontage street called Kleintuin Road. The penguins of Penguin Town were often filmed on their way to Foxy Beach on this road. They had figured out that the roadways were the most efficient way to get around.
We were happy to take the same route!
Once at the park entrance, we paid our $5 entrance fee (adult), and made our way toward Foxy Beach along the handsomely landscaped wooden ramp that meanders through the coastal shrubbery.
Our group was happy to see that the ramp was well-constructed and wide enough for wheelchair disability vehicle access.
The wooden ramp to Foxy Beach blended in nicely with the landscape, and was wide enough for all users
As we made our way down the ramp, we wandered through the low-lying trees and shrubs that hug the shoreline.
Along the way, we saw sections where the park has set up artificial habitats for the penguins to use. They are basically sheltered nests, impervious to weather, providing stable homes for the residents.
An artificial nest that provides stable shelter for the African penguin residents
Getting closer to the waterfront, we started to see more natural nests, with penguins sitting on their eggs! The nests were scattered all over the beachfront, scattered amongst the shrubbery.
This penguin nest is tucked in discreetly among the shrubbery, providing shade and privacy
The Penguin Town series mostly focused on the penguins that nested away from the shorefront, embedded in the human community. According to the producer, they followed about 80 different nesting families.
The show filmed and tracked the nesting families from the time they established their nests all the way through the period after the hatchlings were ready to fend for themselves.
Only five families made the final cut for the series. But what brilliant selections they were!
The soap operas that played out over the eight episodes of Penguin Town kept everyone riveted.
Who can forget the entertaining Bougainvillea family, the Car Park Gang, Mr. and Mrs. Culvert, and Lord & Lady Courtyard? We were rooting for them all! ... well, except maybe not for that naughty Car Park Gang!
Penguin Town followed several penguin families, from the start of their nesting season through the fledglings stage
Our first view of the ocean in the distance revealed a few lone penguins making their way back from the water. We watched as they waddled through the white sands looking for their nests, and possibly predators. They seemed not to notice us in the least. We were simply a non-threatening part of the scenery!
We observed some solitary penguins returning from the ocean who didn't seem to even notice our presence
As we reached the first look-out over Foxy Beach, we were pleasantly surprised to see hundreds of penguins below us! They all seemed to be socializing and enjoying their time on the beach.
The park suggests that the optimal time to visit is usually early morning or late afternoon. These windows provide the best chances to see the penguins as they migrate to, and back from, their treks to the ocean.
Foxy Beach was covered with hundreds of penguins basking in the sun
The African Penguin is also known as the Jackass Penguin because of the donkey sounds they make as they socialize. The air was filled with all kinds of penguin noise as we stood there. They did, indeed, sound like braying donkeys!
Today, there are over 1,200 breading pairs in and around the Foxy Beach area.
African Penguins are also called Jackass Penguins for the braying sound they make when communicating with each other
The park had a second lookout point on the far side of Foxy Beach. From there, we were able to get a better view of the penguins as they fought the waves entering and exiting the ocean.
It was really fun to see them navigating their way through the rough shoreline waves. Some were more elegant than others. A few had clearly mastered the art of surfing, and some still needed practice!
The youngsters seemed to struggle the most.
We had a great vantage point for watching the penguins as they navigated the surf
Returning back up the wooden walkway, we again saw a few penguins returning to their nests. The waddling of the fledglings was especially humorous. Sometimes they just fell over for no apparent reason. They looked like Charlie Chaplin in a penguin suit. Nature's comedy at its best!
The young chicks are fully fledged after about 70 to 90 days. At this point, they are ready to head out to sea, and won't return to the nesting colony for another 12 to 22 months. We were seeing them toward the end of the breeding season, so their sea adventure was about to begin.
As we continued our walk up the wooden board walk, we noticed that some of the penguins didn't have the distinctive black and white coloring. Apparently, all penguins go through an annual process of molting, as they lose their old feathers and replace them with an entirely new set.
Young penguins, soon to be fledglings, in the molting process of replacing their old feathers with new
Nearing the Visitors' Center, we were greeted by a pair of Dassies (Rock Hyrax). We observed them from a safe distance. What a fitting end to our wonderful excursion! Nature was all around us--and thriving!
A mother dassie and her baby interacted on the wooden walkway, then scurried back into the bushes
As we drove home, we shared our best penguin pics and videos, and reminisced about our experience. Everyone marveled at the ability of nature to adapt to human encroachment.
What a fun day, and a privilege to see a huge colony of penguins in their natural habitat. It was an unforgettable experience, especially after seeing the Penguin Town documentary!
Needless to say, we strongly recommend the Penguin Town experience to anyone touring South Africa's Western Cape!
'Safe travels ... see you all on the road!
