I walked to the train station in Cape Town (stopping for a piece of takeaway cheesecake and a muffin - for breakfast of course,) along the way. Since I'd already walked that street several times, my walk didn't take as long as google maps said it would.
I asked the clerk for a ticket for the next train to Simon's Town, and he asked which class I wanted. The cheapeast, of course. It ended up costing me less than $2 round trip for third class. To make it even better, there was a train leaving in less than 10 minutes.
I wound my way down to the platforms, and hopped on the train.
There weren't many people on the train, and they were all men. I looked around the car just to see what I could see, which was interesting. Advertisements for several medical opportunities, including cosmetic surgery and abortion. Almost all of these didn't list a doctor's name or qualifications, only that they could be contacted by whatsapp. Howeva you feel about any medical procedures, I'd think you want them done by qualified medical personnel.
One man moved seats to sit right next to me, and tried to strike up a conversation. I wasn't interested, and let him know that by keeping my answers very very short, and very very vague. I also made a production of taking out my earbuds every time he asked a question, then putting them back in. At one point he touched my arm to get my attention, which I did not appreciate, and told him so directly.
He said he just wanted to talk to me, and I said I wasn't interested. He finally got the message, and moved back to where he had been sitting originally. I could see a few slight grins on the faces of others, as well as expressions that said 'she is rude, why won't she talk to him?' on the faces of a few. Hmmmm. This wasn't the first time I had this sort of a conversation during my trip, but it was the time that someone took the longest to understand that I wasn't interested.
It wasn't easy for me to know where we were. There were announcements for each stop, but I couldn't understand the garbled sound. Each time I train stopped I had to watch the entire platform to catch the name.
Eventually, the train stopped at a station called Fish Hoek and everyone but me got out. There were only three others in my car at that point, so I assumed this was their stop.
I found out I was wrong when someone came into the train and told me I had to get off and take a bus the rest of the way. He asked if I'd heard the announcement, and I told him it was so garbled I hadn't understood a thing, just as with the other announcements. He didn't seem surprised. At the same time, I got the impression that not a lot of tourists ride in 3rd class on the train. He said I'd probably missed the bus catching people from this train, and the next one wouldn't be for another hour or so. Argh.
Since I wasn't completely confident in how long I had to wait, I didn't go anywhere. Instead of walking around this random town, I sat on a bench outside the station and read my kindle. I always make sure to keep something in my purse to entertain myself in case of adventures like this one.
I passed a cemetery, and figured out how to walk through a little bit of that. I passed a museum, unfortunately it was closed due to inventory. Argh.
I passed a small marina area, with a couple cafes and a statue. At that point I wanted a breakfast cafe with scones or muffins, or a bakery, but none of these places were what I wanted. Argh.
I got to a sign indicating where to go to see the penguins. I followed the arrow, noting a couple options for postcard purchases as I walked. I came to the entrance area, which was straightforward. For my fee I also got a brochure which told me about the area, the type of penguins who live there, and had a small map.
I went through the turnstile into the reserve.
There are two boardwalks at this entrance, I followed the longer one first. I went around a corner, and saw my first penguin. He wasn't close, and was a bit hidden amongst the scrub, but I SAW A PENGUIN!
Then I came to the end of the boardwalk, which looks out onto the beach. MORE PENGUINS! I know I'm using a lot of capital letters, but I absolutely love penguins, and this was making me so happy.
Just like everyone else there, I pulled out my camera and started clicking away, and filming video as well.
The way penguins 'walk' makes me smile every time, it's sooo cute. After taking too many photos I put my camera away and just watched. Penguins fascinate me, I could've stayed for hours.
The boardwalk keeps people away from the penguins, so you get to see them cross the beach and waddle up to the burrows in the wooded area. Sometimes they decide to lay down and take a nap on the beach.
After a while, I walked back and found the other boardwalk, which takes you through the wooded area, where the penguins have their burrows. I could hear them more clearly, and saw a few chicks. Penguin chicks aren't nearly as cute as adults. They've got a lot more brown fuzz, and don't walk around as much. Thank goodness for adults :)
I took heaps more photos, of course.
As soon as I walked onto the beach I saw a penguin. I know it sounds silly, but my heart started pounding because I realized I would be able to get close to a penguin. I moved slowly closer and closer to the penguin, absolutely loving every minute. Eventually I got within a couple meters, which was as close as I thought was okay. I squatted down and talked at the penguin. He just looked at me, probably thinking I was crazy. Eventually he wandered off.
Then the beach was empty so I sat for a few minutes just enjoying the peace and beauty. This was definitely a highlight of my trip.
From there I walked back to the train station and caught the bus back to Fish Hoek, then the train back to Capetown.
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