For the Families · Friday 9 April 2027
The Peninsula, and a beach full of penguins.
The day the children have been promised since the aeroplane.
Down the Peninsula on the coast road, out to the lighthouse at the end of the continent, and then Boulders — where African penguins nest in the open and walk past your feet as though you were not there. Not a zoo and not an enclosure: a suburb of Simon’s Town where several thousand penguins happen to live.
And afterwards, a quiet beach further along where children can get into the water with them.
Nine kilometres and a hundred and fourteen curves, cut into the cliff face between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, with a six-hundred-metre drop to the Atlantic on the right the whole way. It took seven years to build and cost more lives than anybody recorded.
Up to the old lighthouse, on foot or by funicular, with False Bay on one side and the Atlantic on the other. Baboons, which children find far more interesting than the view.
With the sea below the table and nothing to rush for.
About three thousand African penguins live at Boulders, in the gardens and under the bushes of a Simon’s Town suburb, and they arrived on their own in 1982 with two breeding pairs. The boardwalk first, where they nest either side of it and walk past your feet. Then a few minutes further along to a beach the coaches do not visit, where the children get into the water and the birds come and go around them.
Back up the False Bay side through the oaks of Constantia. Dinner wherever the family chooses; the Waterfront is on the doorstep.
| John Sparks | With the family every day, from the aircraft door to the aircraft door. |
|---|---|
| Russian trip guide | Guiding throughout, in Russian. |
| Driver | Professional, so both can be with the guests rather than the road. |
| Guests | Up to 14 |
|---|---|
| Swimming | Wetsuits provided for the children |
| Accommodation | Cape Town — night 2 of 3 |
The proposal
Not tours. Living chapters.February · The Cape
The Cape, three waysThe Cape, PrivatelyThe Cape, HostedThe Cape, EssentialApril · For the Families
For the FamiliesApril · Lesotho
Lesotho and the High CountrySeptember · The whales
The Whales, and Deep TimeWhere they stay
21 NettletonTintswalo AtlanticRadisson CollectionLanzeracGrootbosThe MarineHarbour HouseThe Shark BaySanbonaNambiti HillsEsiweni Luxury Safari LodgeCleopatra Mountain FarmhouseWhere they eat
Café CapriceStellenrustTwo Oceans RestaurantLa ColombeBeau ConstantiaCreationAlong the way
Table MountainThe Bo-KaapThe Castle of Good HopeThe Company’s GardenHout BayBoulders BeachGroot ConstantiaKlein ConstantiaBuitenverwachtingStellenboschRustenbergHermanus and Walker BayRiding at Pearly BeachThe Art of the BlendFranschhoekChapman’s PeakCape of Good HopeSnorkelling with SealsGreat White Shark DivingThe whales: the trailerTalk to me
john@visitorstoafrica.comWhatsApp