We got to breakfast at 8 AM today, had poached eggs with tomatoes, mushrooms and the wonderful seed bread. As we were finishing up, Krista brought us a plate of cinnamon sugar crepes that were really delicious!
Bob had several birding (and flowering) goals today which we were afraid were going to be spoiled by the overcast and drizzle, but we drove off anyway west in the direction of Cape Town along the coast.
We drove along Walker Bay to Sanddawn Bay through the stretched out town of Betty's Bay and finally came to False Bay across from the Cape of Good Hope. Bob's bird-finding book suggested a little dirt road in the holiday village of Rooi Els where the elusive Cape Rockjumper is supposed to be found. We came to a "Private Property - no Trespassing" sign on a gate, but it also had a smaller sign saying that birders, bikers and hikers were welcome - and a picture of the bird we wanted to see - how cool was that!
There were high rocky hills on one side and fancy weekend houses, fynbos and the ocean on the other. We immediately saw a life bird, the Cape Rockthrush which resembles the American Robin, but with a blue metallic head, which in the overcast looked black. We walked on through bushes of yellow proteas and quite a bit of bird activity, but when it started to rain we turned back - we have another chance for our target bird tomorrow on our way to Cape Town.
We returned to Betty's Bay and found the turnoff for the Stony Point African Penguin colony. We sat in the car and ate the remains of our chocolate and dates while we waited for the rain to subside. It did and we walked down a boardwalk and immediately could see the small birds sitting in their burrows. A pair generally lay one or two eggs and there were a lot of fluffy twins starting to get their proper feathers.Twin young
A lot of effort has been made to to increase the number of birds which has been quite successful as the numbers have gone from 100 pairs fifteen years ago to 2000 pairs now! Small metal arches have been placed in the sand to make artificial burrows which the penguins seem to have adapted to well. They still have problems from competition with human fishermen and from predation from several animals including leopards which come down from the mountains to prey on them.

We drove a short ways to the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens located in a canyon in the mountains. There we could see labeled many of the species of the fynbos plants we have been seeing so we could finally identify them. Twice in the last ten years the gardens have suffered severe flooding which wiped out trails and bridges which are just beginning to be repaired. We walked up a canyon and saw a family of baboons feeding on reeds in a stream.
They pulled the reeds out and ate the tender bases. They saw us and started coming up the bank towards us, so we casually walked on, but they followed us. Then there was another baboon sitting in the path ahead of us. The trail we could have taken to avoid them was washed out, so we turned around and walked back, trying to look large and confident! The baboons were all very well mannered and left the path when we approached, thankfully. We later read that proper behavior towards baboons is to avoid eye contact and avoid smiling as teeth-baring is a sign of aggression, so I guess we handled it OK. We're much larger than they are, but I don't think they know that they are much stronger than we are!!
Two young baboons foragng
We returned to Hermanus and Francolin Hof Guest House and sat on our balcony, drinking hot chocolate and watching the lively bird display in the trees right in front of us, including some Cape Francolins who walk around the house most of the day.
Cape Francolin
We changed into our best clothes and left at 6:45 for the Seafood Pavilion at the Marine Hotel. We arrived early and were led into a small, bright room with a view of the kitchen. Gracious service from the wonderful staff! I ordered four oysters as a starter. I only eat oysters with a squirt of lemon, but these were served with three sauces and they were so delicious that I ate every scrap, using the parsley and other decorations to get every bit up! Bob had a wonderful sweet corn soup. Then he had grilled Walker Bay sole which he said was the best he's eaten, and I had the line fish (cob?) on a cassoulet of beans with cubes of pumpkin and green beans. Just wonderful! We both ate every scrap! We finished with a warm steamed brandy pudding and decaf expressos. Great meal!! Home to bed!









No comments:
Post a Comment