Penguin Porn

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Geo: -34.1891, 18.4254

Boulders Beach - one of the most famous tourist sights in the entire Western Cape, because of the famous penguin colony that calls it home. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of attractions like this, finding them overly touristy and tacky, but animals in South Africa have a way of turning even the most cynical of people into a giggling little kid. I mean, come on - who doesn't love cute and cuddly penguins? Of course, all the signs warning not to pet the penguins because their sharp beaks can do significant damage to people suggest that maybe they aren't so cuddly after all ...

The penguin colony is a must see, one of the funnest things we've done on this trip, which says a lot as there have been so many highlights. Oohing and aahing over every little penguin movement, every little penguin noise, the way they waddle, even when they just sit there and do nothing (which they seem to do a lot of), as we snapped picture after picture. Completely mesmerized watching a penguin waddle three steps and stop, exhausted from the physical exertion, only to begin waddling another three steps after a lengthy rest, then stopping once more, until five minutes later, it manages to move a grand total of five feet ... South Africa, what have you done to us???

You can't help but wonder what the penguins really think of the busloads of tourists that arrive all day, every day, if in some small way, they find us as entertaining as we find them. Or do they simply get annoyed with us? It appears to be mating season, as we both saw and heard penguins, uh ... shall we say ... getting it on, and also a number of penguins laying eggs. How would people feel if penguins barged into our homes, snapping photos and filming videos, giggling at us while we have sex, or while we're sitting on the throne and dropping a stone? Would we be as accommodating?

At any rate, a little Penguin Porn was a nice cap to the day's sightseeing activities, which in an episode of deja vu, strangely seemed to revolve around wine tasting and excessive consumption of some more excellent food. Our time in Africa has been jam-packed up to now, and after a ton of driving the past few days, it'll be nice to spend a couple of nights in a small town overlooking the ocean on a quieter part of the cape. We need to recharge the batteries a bit for our upcoming time in Cape Town, the last few days of the trip - gotta make them count!

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Photos

Redneck Picnic ...
... the Delaire Graff Estate, one of the fanciest wineries around, didn't have any suitable location for a picnic so we resorted to eating in our car in the parking lot. Ostrich pate, baguette, red wine, and gooseberries - pretty luxurious for a redneck picnic, no?

No Complaints ...
... the view from the car, as we had our picnic.

Privacy Please ...
... like peeping Toms, we got off on watching this penguin lay an egg.

Franschhoek Motor Museum ...
... at L'Ormarins winery, owned by the wealthiest man in South Africa. His car collection has been turned into a motor museum which was good, but not worth the 60 Rand entrance fee. His collection focused more on classic cars, though there were some modern Ferraris which undoubtedly will become classics. Some of the older vehicles resembled something out of the Jetsons.

Desserts at Indochine ...
... one of the high-end restaurants at Delaire Graff. Sataa Andagi - a distinctly Asian-themed dessert, with chocolate, green tea, red bean, peppercorns ... this dessert had all kinds of elements, but we weren't really digging it.

Coconut Air ...
... like the other dessert, this one had many elements, but was SO good. Roasted pineapple granita, lemon meringues, coconut panna cotta ... the highlights were the little bits sprinkled all over the plate - a sort of brittle, and chunks of sea foam candy that had a nice honey flavour. Different textures, different tastes ... in a way, it looked like a big ol' mess on the plate, but it was a delicious mess.

Harbour House in Kalk Bay ...
... mussels with white wine, garlic, thyme, and cream - sweet and tender, nearly as good as the ones we had this past summer in Malta and Albania.

Fish Soup ...
... the calamari in South Africa continues to be amazing, so unbelievably tender. Chunks of fish, nicely caramelized before being bathed in the broth - an embarrassment of seafood riches in this dish. The broth itself wasn't anything special, but with such delicious seafood being the feature, who cares?

Crayfish Again ...
... call them what you want, but they are delicious little lobsters. I think I preferred the ones we had at The Common Room in Franschhoek, simply for the wood-grilled flavour.

The King ...
... Kingklip! Served in a cream sauce fragrant with basil, and baked rosemary potatoes - they definitely know how to perfectly prepare seafood in South Africa. Great selection of roasted vegetables - baby carrots and snow peas. We were pretty much full after the starters, and had little chance of polishing off our entrees.