Peter-Vincent Schuld

You don’t have to be cold to see penguins in real life. The enormous diversity of African nature offers you a perfect solution.

I am in Cape Town and let myself be transported along a coastal road that appeals to the idyllic imagination to the surroundings of the picturesque village of Simons Town, which owes its name to the Dutchman Simon van der Stel. Sun interspersed with fog and powerful waves crashing on the shore. You’ll encounter it all along the way when you visit the waddling friends.

The Cape, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. An area with a rich history and closely linked to the colonial VOC past of the Netherlands. People come and go, political systems change, but if man keeps his grasping hands off them, then nature is the only fixed value in life.

I arrive at Boulders Beach and the pungent smell betrays that we have arrived in a society without a constructed sewage system. A society that does not consist of humans but of African penguins. Wonderful animals, birds, birds that can’t fly but can dive to a depth of about 35 meters. I don’t imitate them.

Surprised, I take in the first penguins that come to my mind. I think I was more surprised by the presence of penguins on this South African coast than I was by my presence. Mother Nature puts things into perspective.

From one moment to the next, you are in the middle of the habitat of these animals and their perception of the world. A habitat that, unfortunately, sometimes comes under pressure.

Penguins on the Boulders Beach, Simons Town, South Africa (c) Peter-Vincent Schuld

The penguins have had to fight a kind of battle with the local fisheries. Their normal diet consisted of anchovies, mackerel and herring, but fishing has forced them to adjust their diet and have also started eating squid.

The behavior of these animals is remarkable and entertaining at the same time. If you pay attention to their behavior, you could easily write an episode from a daily soap opera. Neighborly quarrels, protecting their eggs and their children, there are long-term unbreakable relationships, marital quarrels, twittering and other forms of communication between the animals, it’s worth it.

Penguin at the Boulders Beach, Simons Town, South Africa (c) Peter-Vincent Schuld

It’s a hive of activity. Without disturbing the animals, I take my camera in hand and they don’t have the slightest problem with it.
It seems like they don’t see me as an intruder. There is quiet incubation on the eggs, there is a lot of activity on the beach. If there were market stalls and cafes that were run and visited by the penguins, it would have seemed quite normal here. The animals chat with each other, can put up a throat together and the other is just sunbathing on the beach.

Penguin enjoys on the beach at Boulders Beach, Simons Town, South Africa (c) Peter-Vincent Schuld

Yes, it’s something with those penguins. You won’t believe it, but it’s the seals that penguins have as a natural enemy. Seals that you can see on and around the jetties in the commercial centre called Waterfront on the coastline in Cape Town. In the past, in the 17th century, when the settlers from the Low Countries founded the Cape, the Dutch became one of the main enemies of the penguins. The penguin liked them very much. In all likelihood, those creatures have no sense of history and luckily they didn’t ask for my passport and so I could enjoy myself and make beautiful images.

Penguins at Boulders Beach, Simons Town, South Africa (c) Peter-Vincent Schuld

The animals fall under the protection of the Cape Penisula National Park. But the free penguin also wants to go out sometimes. Unfortunately, several penguins have fallen prey to another human invention, the automobile. To prevent penguins from running over, signs have been placed along the roads warning of these crossing feathered friends.

Coastal road road warning of penguins crossing, Simons Town, South Africa (c) Peter-Vincent Schuld

Protection is an absolute necessity, as always it is humans who cause problems for animals. Until the last century, Penguin eggs were a delicacy, but fortunately that has come to a reasonable end. Another human enemy is the oil pollution caused by oil tankers. Yet there is an organization that immediately responds when the animals are affected by oil pollution and other catastrophes.
A few decades ago, the South African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds was established with its own care and rehabilitation centre, where affected animals can be cleaned of oil pollution and recovered.

Penguins on the Boulders Beach, Simons Town South Africa, in the background an oil rig (c) Peter-Vincent Schuld

Yes, the African penguins are special animals. They are by no means shy of people, they don’t care much. But it’s best to leave the animals alone. If they are bothered, they can be vicious and with their beak they are able to give you quite a wound. Rightly so, they live there and we humans have to adapt to the animals that have traditionally lived there and not the other way around. We can be happy that they accept the presence of humans, although this emphatic presence is now being managed by the authorities who care about the animals.

Yes, if you can bring yourself to leave the critters alone and follow the directions, then you can have a wonderful experience.
It is the only place in the world where you can admire these animals in the described environment. Where you can see how they breed (the breeding season is from February to August) and how they care for their eggs as well as their young. Take your time to observe the behavior of the animals and see how beautiful the African penguin actually is. Look at their plumage, their wings that they can’t fly, their silliness and their social cohesion. Penguins on the Cape in South Africa, another wondrous and fascinating phenomenon of mother nature.