to the destruction
that takes place
before our eyes
but with no one screaming
at the atrocities
While most travel write ups are a fun way to think about what one just experienced, this one is unlike any others. At once you are blown away by the beauty and what there is, but also you feel this deep sadness and depression after realising what you have just witnessed. That you might have witness history...
We recently visited one of the last two remaining African/Cape Penguin Colonies at Stony Point in Betty's Bay South Africa. This in itself is deeply sad and unsettling, but realising that these birds are so critically endangered that they might not be around in the next ten years, is even more upsetting.
Linked with the history of what happened on this particular beach in years prior, this place seeps of depression, even though there is profound beauty to be found and an abundance of life.
I hope that you will take this virtual journey with me, even though it is a bit on the sad side. I am not going to lie, this is a heartbreaking story in the making built upon just as sad a history. In either case, please join me.
Walking Betwixt these Beautiful Birds
As you enter the area where the colony is, you are met with the wandering penguins all over the place. It does not take you a long time before you are met with them, just doing their thing as if nobody's watching. But a lot of people are watching...
As you come down the stairs, there is a small restaurant that serves so delicious breakfast while you look at the birds wandering around the place. When we visited, the weather was quite bad, cold, windy, and with some rain. Perfect for sighting these penguins!
A Perfect Setting
The area is at the foot of the mountain that ends up in the ocean. There is small coastal towns, like Betty's Bay, on the edge where the road curves around the mountain. A perfect cove of some kind for the colony.
The colony is accessible by bridge that the local government built. Even though one might think that the best option would have been to leave these birds alone, to keep human life away, there needs to be some balance as I will discuss below. Even though I feel strongly that we need to keep areas "wild" (even if this is still possible) if a symbiotic relationship can be formed, this is sometimes the only option.
The Colony
The colony at Betty's Bay looks to be strong and healthy, as there are many nests and birds. But I am not an expert, so I am not sure if they are healthy. What I read on the boards provided by the people maintaining the colony, two of the main driving forces of the decline of these colonies are overfishing - there is literally no fish left for these birds - and seals killing them - seals apparently kill them because they are sexually frustrated. (I am not making that up....)
A Symbiotic Relationship (?)
I add this question mark because I am not always sure if we can really live in a real symbiotic way. Human nature tends to be extremely self-centred.
But with the houses looming in the background, we find the colony, and we also find human made nests for these birds.
Apparently, these birds make nests where they defecate, and because of the years and years of defecation, the sand becomes almost like concrete. This allows the birds to dig into the sand. When they are able to do this, they lay their eggs. But because this is a new colony, the sand is not perfect for nest making, even though there are some natural nests. But these birds rely on human intervention, and hence the idea of a kind of symbiosis.
A Sad History of the Area
As you walk throughout the area, you become aware of the really sad history on which this colony for the penguins are built. There are remnants of the old whaling station that was there, with even a ship's hull still sticking its nasty head through the water, albeit now claimed by the ocean and the birds.
I was not aware of this, but it makes sense that the Cape was part of the whaling stations. This is really a sad history, as whales were almost hunted to extinction. Now, this place that was part of driving extinction, is part of another extinction...
They say bad luck comes in threes.
But there is some hope left...
Nature Taking Back her Own
Even though this place is built on a sad history, and the future's looking grim, the present moment is somewhat built on some promise for nature taking back her own.
The remnants of the sad past, is covered and is being covered by nature, plants, birds, and mammals.
For one, there are so many other species of birds that also call this place home, and the dassies or rock Hyraxes are making it their homes.
This is a far cry from being perfect, or in any shape that it needs to be, but it is at least something, a glimmer of hope and beauty...
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Other Colonies and the Views
As I mentioned above, these shores are not just home to the colony of penguins, but also many other bird species, which just also reminds one that there is hope. For example, the African black oystercatcher birds were also almost going extinct, but with extremely hard work by communities around the coast, their numbers have steadily been climbing, getting them off of the endangered list.
Here is also a short video of the birds flying in the area, just to give a kind of scale about how many birds there are:
The mountains and the ocean also present spectacular beauty, even on misty days. When the sun is shining, the mountains become some of the most beautiful.
Interesting, a lot of the growth you see in the area is from a specific plant. Looking at it from up close, you just realise again the beauty of the small things.
The Artworks: Funny and Beautiful Moments
There are some beautiful and funny artworks throughout the park. We found some beautiful sketches of two of the many bird species found in the area, and as we drove out, we saw the interesting and funny sign; this is not a zebra crossing (as we call them in South Africa) but a penguin crossing!
The attention to small detail is really interesting and in good humour.
Postscriptum, or Check Under Your Car Before You Leave!
As we left for our car, we saw another good humoured sign. Obviously, the consequences are not funny at all, with the life of these animals being so precious senseless death is the last thing you want.
But we all climbed in the car (after looking under it) feeling a strange kind of sadness. We might live in a world with fewer colour, fewer diversity, just because of our own self-centred needs.
For now, we focus on the beauty and the splendour. But we are also working towards making it a better place. Even though everything is stacked up against the odds.
Alas, happy and safe travelling, and keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.