Where to find the wild ones in Cape Town

You know that you are getting close to Boulders Beach, in Simon’s Town, when you see penguins painted onto the road to warn drivers to look out for real penguins crossing. You can see this critically endangered bird in the breeding colony at Boulders Beach, which consists of three pristine beaches, with a penguin viewing area and three boardwalks.

Be sure to stay on the boardwalks at all times within the viewing area and don’t touch or feed the penguins. These birds might look like soft toys wearing tuxedos, but if they are frightened, they won’t hesitate to nip with their sharp beaks. There is an entry charge to enter the viewing area but you can see the penguins even in the parking lot. Be sure to look under your car before driving away!

The little, golden-haired pointy faces of the dassie (or rock hyrax) can be found staring unblinkingly at you from amongst the granite boulders on top of Table Mountain. They can also be seen at the lookout points at Cape Point Nature Reserve.

Do not feed them, no matter how sweetly they look at you. Feeding them may make them less wary of people and could result in a nasty nip. They may surprise you by their harsh warning barks (when they feel threatened). When this happens, all the dassies run helter-skelter back to their rocky shelters. Although their closest living relative is the elephant, they are the size of a rather fat tabby cat.

People who think that porcupines are similar to hedgehogs often get quite a fright when they see a Cape porcupine for the first time. These quilled rodents can weigh up to 24kg and when they have raised all their quills, they look like they are over a metre tall! In actual fact, the porcupine is quite a sociable creature, living in family units and taking good care of the baby porcupines.

They are widespread across the city, but are mostly found in the suburbs on the urban edge and are nocturnal, so they are fairly hard to find. You might get lucky seeing one whilst hiking in the fynbos mountainside around the city, or at Silvermine Reservoir, or in the early morning or dusk at the Zandvlei Nature Reserve. Alternatively, you could hang around after dark in the small streets of Glencairn, where you may get lucky to see one of the resident porcupines that take nightly strolls through the gardens, helping themselves to any bulbs growing in the flowerbeds.

Porcupines are very short-sighted, so if they come towards you, get out of their way. Provided you don’t make any threatening gestures or noises, and remain still and quiet at a distance from them, they won't charge or ‘spike’ you with their formidable arsenal of black and white quills.

Otters can be seen fairly frequently in the early morning or late evening hours on some of Cape Town’s less crowded beaches. There is a posse of five otters on Kommetjie’s Long Beach, for example, and a couple have been spotted arriving on Glencairn Beach via the river in the fresh morning hours. An otter also occasionally entertains the diners at the restaurants on the water’s edge at the Simons’s Town waterfront. There is also an otter family living in the canals of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

If you come across an otter, walk backwards and don’t stand still; rather move away from the otter. If you stand still, they may investigate your foot. If they start paying close attention to your feet, use a jersey or jacket to usher the otter away. If you're swimming, change direction when you see them.

Cape Town’s shoreline received international attention in the award-winning documentary, ‘My Octopus Teacher’. The colourful life teeming in Cape Town’s rock pools is worth closer scrutiny and can reveal all sorts of gems, such as octopus, starfish, klipvis (rock fish), nudibranchs, pipefish, urchins, mussels and many more.

If you want to play a part in marine science there is an opportunity to collect data on the fish and sharks of False Bay through Cape RADD’s 'Snorkel for Science' programme. Participants join marine biologists for a guided snorkel to search for species like puffadder and pyjama sharks. The activity is beginner-friendly, with all equipment provided.

You can also get a guided tour at the SOSF Shark Education Centre, which hosts a collection of state-of-the-art rock pool exhibits. Or you can slip on your costume and go exploring yourself in the multiple tidal pools Cape Town offers, such as the Dalebrook Tidal pool at Kalk Bay, the Glencairn pool at Glencairn beach, St James beach or the Saunders Rock Pool at Sea Point. Miller’s Point, located near Simon’s Town, has a series of natural, clear rock pools where you can leisurely swim, picnic and explore the shoals in the shallows. Remember to always keep an eye on the ocean for unexpectedly big waves, keep an eye on children and avoid standing on sea urchins!

Cape Town really is one of the most amazing cities in the world. Where else can you see whales from the city shoreline and porcupines from the city urban edge? Keep an eye out for the double spout of the Southern Right Whale during the months of June to November when this species usually comes closer to shore.

Boat-based whale watching tours are available from Simon’s Town and Hout Bay, and, during the season, you are likely to see humpback whales, Southern Right whales and possibly even Bryde’s whales.

Dolphins abound in our coastal waters, and you can often see them leaping for joy in pods of over 100 dolphins along the coast from Fish Hoek to Glencairn, Simon’s Town and Scarborough. Take a slow drive along this route and park at viewpoints from Simon’s Town to Cape Point, with your binoculars and a picnic. If you want a closer look at the cetaceans, consider taking a kayaking tour at the V&A Waterfront or in False Bay.

Depending on who you speak to in Cape Town, baboons are considered either a nuisance or a blessing. There is a fair bit of human-wildlife conflict around baboons, so if you don’t want your head bitten off by an irate resident, don’t tell them that you would like to see the baboons.

The baboons, on the other hand, won’t bite your head off. However, they are very intelligent creatures so there’s some hard rules when you encounter them. Do not feed them. Do not take food with you, not even closed packets of chips. Baboons at Cape Point have been known to sit on the roof of the shop and reach down to snatch people’s crisps from their hands, open them and munch them all up.

Do not stare down the alpha male. Treat them with respect and courtesy. There are opportunities in Tokai forest, near the Tokai Arboretum, to see baboons foraging and playing in the forest. Baboon monitors are stationed there (their job is to dissuade the baboons from straying into residents’ kitchens) and they are willing to advise and assist you as to correct baboon-watching etiquette.

The caracal or rooikat (which it is known as in Afrikaans, translated as “red cat”) is a wild cat weighing from 9kg to 16kg and there are quite a few in Cape Town, particularly around the urban edge. Caracal have been spotted in Silvermine Reserve, Cape Point Nature Reserve and Rondevlei Nature Reserve, as well as in vineyards and estates. Hikers on the trails of the Table Mountain National Park often report sightings, frequently in the daytime, even though caracal are mostly nocturnal. The Urban Caracal Project monitors these tufted-ear felines in Cape Town.

Unfortunately, caracal are often the victim of roadkill, and reflective caracal artworks have been placed in eight caracal roadkill “hotspots” identified through mortality research by the Urban Caracal Project. If you see one of these signs, slow down and keep your eyes peeled for crossing cats!

Western leopard toads are an Endangered toad found in low-lying wetlands in the Cape Town area. During August, large numbers of adults migrate to water bodies to breed and the sound of the males calling has been likened to revving motorbikes.

Unfortunately, toads often have to cross roads en route to their breeding sites, and many get killed by road traffic. The local conservation authorities and an NGO called Toad Nuts regularly set up safe zones on these roads, where toads can cross safely. The volunteers either carry the toads across the road or halt the traffic temporarily whilst the toads cross.

If you are in Cape Town during August, and have a rainy night free, why not go see if you can find your Prince Charming by saving toads? Don’t kiss them though, they don’t taste nice...