I arrived in Cape Town on the Saturday before our scheduled departure on the Monday. I would stay with a friend for two nights. We had a lovely dinner that evening with another one of our friends. The plans for the Sunday were to drive to Rooiels to look for the endemic Cape Rock Jumper and then visit Stoney Point to see the African Penguins.
The drive to Rooiels is very scenic – after passing through Strand the road winds along the water’s edge for kilometers. It was a hazy day, and that meant that we could not see across False Bay to Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town.
When we reached Rooiels, we made our way to a little beach.
We saw Familiar Chats, Red-winged Starlings and Cape Wagtails along the way.
When we reached the little beach we found a Southern Rock Agama trying to catch breakfast.
Another one was enjoying the morning sun.
From a vantage point near the beach we spotted a number of birds. Flocks of Cape Cormorants flew past. There were also lots of Kelp Gulls around.
As I scanned the sea, I noticed a little head popping out of the water. I followed the Cape Fur Seal until it disappeared beneath the waves.
There were two Tern species that were flying up and down – Great Crested (Swift)Terns and Common Terns.
As we made our way to the road where we hoped to find the Cape Rock Jumper, we spotted some Cape Sugar Birds. I just love the long tails that the males have!
Fellow birders pointed out some Sunbirds. I was so surprised to see the Orange Breasted Sunbirds, my first lifer of the trip. I had not expected to see these guys at all. Unfortunately I just could not get a photo of the gorgeous orange underparts.
I then met up with the chairman of our birding club and some of his fellow birders. After almost 2km of walking, we saw the Cape Rockjumpers. These birds are endemic to South Africa and are only found in parts of the Western Cape. There were three birds. They were not close to the road and the morning sun had become quite harsh by that time, but we had lovely views of what looked like a male, female and youngster.
The habitat where we found the Rockjumbers is unique.
On the way back to the car I saw a Karoo Prinia and a Cape Bunting.
The Fynbos flora of the Western Cape is really special, and we saw many of the Everlasting flowers in bloom.
We stopped at one of the coffee shops in the little town for something cold to drink. It was another really hot day in the Cape.
We then drove the short distance to Stoney Point. There I was finally able to add the African Penguin to my life list. These guys are so incredibly cute!
They look so cuddly in their black and white suits.
There were also a few chubby youngsters around.
One bird enjoyed splashing about in the water. It was such a hot day, I was envious about the fact that he was able to enjoy the cool water!
Others seemed to enjoy the warm afternoon sun.
Two black birds flew past and landed on some rocks in the bay. It was a pair of African Oystercatchers.
I also saw more Cape Cormorants as well as White-breasted Cormorants.
We made our way back home. After dropping off the rental car we went to have ice cream on Bloubergstrand. It was rather windy and the beach was really busy. The wind made the view a little hazy and we could not get the famous clear view of Table Mountain from Bloubergstrand.
We looked if we could see the MSC Orchestra that was due to dock at about 18h00, but she was not visible yet. But it was exciting to know that in just a few short hours I would be boarding the ship for an adventure I was really looking forward to!