Aloes & Stuff

Aloes and iceplants are native to this area and have been imported to the US for landscaping, erosion control, and whatnot. Here you can see them as part of an ecosystem (though not in this picure where they are definitely landscaping on the grounds of the cape point light house) and you often see a little iceplant between some shrubs or a dense stand of aloe just like you'd see a patch of prickley-pear in the hills outside Tucson. I catch myself thinking I'm walking in a garden when in fact I'm in a wilderness.

Andy

Penguin Tracks

The penguins leave scrapey claw, wing, and tail tracks in the sand. The shoes are for scale.

Andy

The Cape Point

Andy does the penguin walk at Boulders Beach.



The horizon beyond the Cape of Good Hope is not actually slanted. Next time we drive down there, I'll try to hold the camera straight.

Melissa

Jackass Penguins, Mom!

A jackass penguin, unfortunately renamed as an African penguin. Long live the ouzel!

The penguins were on a white sugar beach. Really warm. Not what you'd expect from a penguin breeding colony. We plan to return next summer to snorkel with them.

Andy and Melissa

Hello, Aloe

This tree aloe is just inside the entrance of the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. We were members before we had an apartment, a car, a phone, or a bag of rice.

Melissa and Andy