Betty’s Bay is a quaint seaside village on South Africa’s south-western coastline, about 90km from Cape Town (part of the route follows the scenically spectacular R44 Clarence Drive along the False Bay coastline, offering superb whale-watching at the right time of year). The town’s most endearing residents – African Penguins – have lived at this address since 1982 in one of just three mainland breeding colonies of these charismatic birds. What used to be the Waaygat Whaling Station until the mid-1900’s is now the Stony Point Nature Reserve, a haven for not only the penguins but many other species of wildlife as well. Of archeological interest at Stony Point is a midden of abalone shells indicative of the lifestyle of Khoisan people dating back to before colonial times.
The stars of this show is undoubtedly the African Penguins, with about 2,000 breeding pairs of these endangered birds now at home here. The management authority have provided artificial nests made of fibreglass to the penguins as the site does not yet have the deep deposit of guano that penguins require to dig their nest burrows as is their natural habit.
Besides the penguins four species of cormorant breed on the rocks of Stony Point, while many other kinds of sea, shore and land birds also find a home here and dassies, lizards and agamas vie for position to bathe in the sun on the rocks.
The Stony Point Nature Reserve is managed by CapeNature. An enclosed walkway leading through the colony, with informative displays along the way, allows visitors to view the penguins and other wildlife at close quarters without disturbing them. At the entrance to the walkway is a very popular restaurant operated by a local community organisation.
DeWetsWild 