“They’re a damn nuisance, they are,” offered the man as we walked toward a group of tourists excitedly shooting pictures of two African Penguins standing silently in a drain pipe.
A nuisance? We were among dozens of tourists from all over the world walking toward the Boulders in Simon’s Town to see–the Boulder Colony of African Penguins.
The Simon’s Town local is certainly entitled to his opinion, but as he told us, “If you come to look at them once in your life, they’re cute. But if you live here, they’re noisy, stinky pests,” he was standing in front of a gelato cone stand (single scoop 20 Rand, double 25) located in what looked to be his backyard.
Now it’s possible he and his wife could sell a cone or two without these “pests,” but it’s doubtful. All day long, visitors walk down the residential street to The Boulders to see the cute little penguins.
The penguins make enough noise to be also known as Jackass Penguins, but anyone making a few rand from people going to see them, shouldn’t resent the cute little birds. After all, no one is walking down that street to see he and his wife.
However, the guy reminded me of Las Vegas locals who constantly complain about the tourists who come to Sin City, spend their money, and drive the economy. During the Comdex convention, Las Vegas locals complain about computer geeks. During the National Finals Rodeo, the cowboys are ridiculed by locals. And so on.
Perhaps the cone curmudgeon honestly believes that it’s the quality of his gelato that is driving his traffic, but it’s not. He had the entrepreneurial chutzpah to recognize the needs of customers walking by his house. He should remember what brings the customers to him.
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That must be one helluva scoop of ice-cream because a single soft-serve from KFC in South Africa will set you back less than 3 rand.
Pay no heed to the complainers, Mr French. It’s a national pastime in SA. It could rain gold coins and we’d find reasons to complain about it.
Welcome to the Cape Mr French! I live in Fish Hoek, Simonstown’s slightly more shark-infested neighbour.
Interestingly, the Boulders penguin colony is something of an aberration, both ecological and economic.
For most of recorded history and probably long before that, there were no colonies of Jackass Penguins anywhere on Africa’s mainland. They are often seen on mainland beaches and feeding in the waters , but they (used to) breed exclusively on offshore islands, where their nesting sites are not exposed to land-based predators ( rats, mongooses, meerkats, primates…). Then, in the 1980s, thanks to suburban development having effectively separated the beachfront from the wilderness a little further inland with a large swathe of asphalt and buildings, one or two couples of maverick penguins nested successfully at Boulders Beach. And in the absence of significant natural predation, like Topsy, the colony just growed and growed – a profoundly unnatural state of affairs that would never pertain in the natural context.
Then of course, after it became apparent that the colony was attacting tourist attention, the local authorities (Both Municipal and Nature Conservation) swooped in, composed a whole raft of rules and regulations, and set up a tollbooth to charge everybody going onto the beach. (Including locals, whose rights of usage established over several generations were summarily withdrawn). Even the celebrated ‘Van the Penguin man’, an elderly local resident who had appointed himself as the – unremunerated – Penguins’ Protector and PR agent, himself a mini-institution of many years’ standing ( and whose efforts were most likely a significant factor in the the colony’s sustained growth and succes), was firmly muscled out and unceremoniously kicked off the beach, as uniformed Table Mountain National Park officials moved in, jackboots and all.
There you have it – Leviathan operating in the Simonstown microcosm, and we havent even mentioned the Navy! Frankly, I’m rather surprised that Officialdom hasn’t clamped down on your ice cream vendor and prohibited him from trading.
True. If the majority of people realized what truly drives the economy and helps everyone survive, they wouldn’t be so quick to run to the Federal Government or State Governments for every little thing.
I have never tasted penguin but it sure looks like it would be a very succulent dark meat – a meaty variation of salmon. A real entrepreneur would offer yummy penguin dishes to starving tourists. I also suppose there would be some visceral satisfaction in the kitchen as the formerly annoying jackass is turned into delightful sustenance.
The beauty of South Africa is that one could be stranded and alone but eat very well as long as one had a good rifle and a spice rack. Nature’s abundance…
It seems that in every area that depends on tourist spending, there are a significant number of people who resent the source of their prosperity.
Head down to the Atlantic coastal counties of New Jersey, and you’ll see a large number of bumper stickers with “Bennies Go Home” printed on them (Bennies being a derogatory term for people from northern NJ & NYC who spend their vacation time and money in these places) They fail to recognize that the “Bennies’” money what prevents these towns from descending into oceanfront ghettos like Asbury Park.
The universal cuteness of penguins is an amazing thing, almost as amazing as the universal failure to appreciate life’s blessings. Great article.
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