Where to find wildlife in and around Cape Town

by Travel Writer Sasha Arms

Although Cape Town is better known for its beaches and European city vibe than its wildlife, there is still plenty of animal life to see in and around the city. From animal parks to wild seals and penguins, and whale watching to safaris in the vicinity, Cape Town can offer visitors more wildlife than they might have imagined.

For wildlife that is genuinely wild, the best places to start are Boulders Beach and Foxy Beach for the African Penguin. You’ll come across Boulders on your way down the Cape Peninsula towards Cape Point – the turn-off for Boulders isn’t far past Simon’s Town. Foxy Beach is part of a national park – rightly so to protect the vulnerable species. Boardwalks take you right down to the beach, and you’ll see penguins along the way, often concluding in a huge congregation of them on the beach. You get to Boulders Beach further along the coastline, reached by a path just outside of the Boulders ticket office. Here you can sit on the beach and even swim – you’re likely to catch a glimpse of some penguins on the rocks nearby.

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Wildlife out on the ocean

Seals are also commonly found on the coastal regions on the Cape. To see a whole seal colony, Duiker Island is your place, which can be reached via a short boat trip from Mariner’s Wharf in Hout Bay. The island is tiny – it’s not even 100 metres long – but attracts thousands of Cape Fur Seals. The seals and other wildlife, such as birds, are magnificent against the backdrop of the rugged Cape behind. Although boats can’t land on the island, they manage to get visitors within metres of the seals, who are often treated to the seals diving and showing off their skills.

If you’re in the Cape from about July to November, you’re in-time for ‘whale season’. A number of species of whales pass around Cape Town and along South Africa’s southern coastline, the most common being the Southern Right Whale. There are so many good vantage points in and around Cape Town; you don’t even need to do a boat trip to be able to see them. If you want to stay around the Cape Town area, head towards the Cape Peninsula and the False Bay area. The stretches of land between Muizenberg and St James, and between Kalk Bay and Lakeside are really good whale-watching spots. You could also drive along Chapman’s Peak Road and stop at one of the rest spots overlooking Hout Bay to see if you can catch a glimpse.

If you’ve got a bit more time on your hands and are prepared to drive out of Cape Town for whale-watching, follow the southern coast along to Hermanus, which is hailed as the best land-based whale watching spot in the world. Hermanus is only an hour and a half away from Cape Town and there are some popular cliff paths that offer fantastic vantage points of the passing whales. Some of the best spots include Gearing’s Point and Bientang’s Cave, although they can be very busy with visitors.

Of course, getting out on the water to do some whale-watching could be the experience of a lifetime. Remember that while it’s highly likely that you will spot whales during the peak season, the boat operators can’t guarantee it. You’ll find any number of tour operators offering whale-watching trips from the small towns along the southern coast, or even from offices in Cape Town itself.

Animal centres and farms in Cape Town

The Cape is a real treat in terms of being able to go out there and see wildlife in action, but that’s not to say you shouldn’t visit the various animal centres and farmyards in the area too. Continuing the marine life theme, try the ‘Two Oceans Aquarium’ on the V&A Waterfront. There are around 3,000 species of marine life there, including ragged-tooth sharks and seals. The aquarium also makes a very popular spectacle of feeding the penguins, while turtle feeding is performed by divers.

Over in Hout Bay is the ‘World of Birds’ which has a total of more than 3,000 birds and small animals, across 400 species. There are scores of landscaped walks on the premises that take you through impressive aviaries. While the focus of World of Birds are the birds themselves, there are a number of other creatures to be found there. The ‘Monkey Jungle’ – full of squirrel monkeys - is especially loved by all visitors. Other animals include bushpigs and pot-bellied pigs, racoons, tamarins, hedgehog tenrecs, mongooses, marmosets and meerkats. Reptiles include the blue-tongued skink, tortoises and green iguanas.

Imhoff Farm, on the Cape Peninsula near Kommetjie, is also well-known for its animal life. With the ‘Higgeldy Piggeldy Animal Farm’ and the ‘Snake Park’, you can see everything from chickens and sheep to a yellow anaconda and a Mozambique spitting python. Imhoff Farm also runs camel rides and horseriding trips. Horseriding offers even more opportunities for wildlife spotting, as the tour takes you along the beach where you might spot birds, seals, otters, dolphins and whales.

Wildlife is everywhere on the Cape

Even if you’re not intending to do very much wildlife spotting on your trip to the Cape, you will come across it whether you like it or not.

It’s very unlikely that you won’t see some baboons at some point during your trip. Distinctive and a novelty for visitors, remember that they can also be quite vicious. If they spot some food on you or in your car, they will quite threateningly demand to have it. You’ll come across them at the roadside (or in the middle of the road) and especially in tourist hotspots. The car-park at Cape Point is an example, and they’re often seen clambering over cars to try to get to food wrappers inside. They will also come into houses to raid them for food, so make sure you keep the doors closed wherever you are staying.

If you go up Table Mountain, you’ll find the top to be craggy and sparse, but there are still plenty of species you may come across. Dassies, also known as the rock hyrax, look a bit like guinea pigs and are often spotted around the cable station, attracted by visitors’ crumbs. There are also lizards and snakes to be found up there, as well as the ever-present baboons.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is known more for its far-reaching and incredible gardens full of flora, but there’s a lot of wildlife in and around the area too. Go to the Wildlife Gardens to see birds and butterflies. Other species you are less likely to spot, but are definitely in the area, include reptiles, the Spotted Eagle Owl, Guinea Fowls, the Cape Fox, the Cape Porcupine and Grey Squirrels.

Safari around Cape Town

Most people who go to South Africa specifically for safari will often fly into Johannesburg and head on to the Kruger National Park or private game reserves. With so much else going on too, the area around Cape Town isn’t really known for safari, but there are, in fact, some excellent safari options accessible from the Mother City.

About an hour away up South Africa’s western coast is the Buffelsfontein Game Reserve. The nearest town to the reserve is Darling, but the reserve is further north of here still. It used to be a 1,600 hectare cattle farm, but is now a fully-fledged game reserve. On game drives on the reserve you are told that you can expect to see lion, buffalo, giraffe, blue wildebeest, kudu and springbok. If you decide you’d like to make more than a day trip of it, accommodation on the reserve ranges from full board cottages to self-catering cottages by waterholes, where you get a perfect view of animals attracted there. For the more adventurous, you can also go on a 4x4 route over the sand dunes and stay overnight in a bush camp in the dunes.

Heading east from Cape Town instead of north, you’ll come across the Fairy Glen Game Reserve. This is also about an hour away from Cape Town and is near the town of Worcester. Fairy Glen is an award-winning reserve and is the southernmost Big Five Safari, and you are very likely to see the big five - lion, elephant, Cape Buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros. As well as the more traditional game drives, Fairy Glen also offers horseback safaris. If you want to stay over, there are a number of chalets, including some luxury ones.

A bit further north from Fairy Glen is another Big Five safari at the Aquila Game Reserve, which is more like two hours away from Cape Town.

Another accessible safari from Cape Town is the Inverdoorn Game Reserve in the Ceres-Karoo, which is about two and a half hours away from the city.

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Sasha Arms is a freelance writer, editor and web communications strategist. She has travelled extensively, particularly across South Africa, Europe and the Americas and has contributed to a number of notable publications, including the Lonely Planet Bluelist. Read more about Sasha Arms