Willis Walk = Penguins + Panorama
The cache, a camo-taped screw-capped preform tube is hidden at a fine viewpoint at the side of a small access path just outside the world-famous Boulders Beach Penguin Colony and heading down to Willis Walk.
To reach the cache:simply follow the signs for Boulders as you pass through Simon’s Town and park at any convenient parking area. Your objective is to find either end of Willis Walk, a wooden boardwalk which skirts the BouldersPark. The cache is within 100m of the southern entrance (ie. closest to Cape Point).
This freely accessible wooden boardwalk skirts the southern edge of the unique colony giving close-up sightings of African penguin and wonderful views down to the beach below, dominated by huge granite boulders, and beyond across False Bay to surrounding mountains.
The Walk is named after Humphrey ‘Dumps’ Willis who contributed in many ways to Simon’s Town. He was a renowned historian and researcher and was also the founder and first Chairman of the Simon’s Town Historical Society and a pioneer of Simon’s Town Museum.
During the Second World War his role was that of air rescue and in later years as a Simon’s Town councillor and deputy mayor (in the late 1950s) he opposed the notorious Group Areas Act, which led to forced removals of non-white long-time inhabitants from their homes to largely unsuitable settlements. See here for a fascinating account of the effect of this Act in and around Simon’s Town written by Barbara Willis (wife of Humphrey?).
Boulders Bay has small beaches surrounded by granite boulders with thickets of strandveld vegetation. The penguin colony falls within a suburban and recreational area, and is limited in space due to policy decisions. It is managed by South African National Parks, as part of the Table Mountain National Park, and is a very popular tourist attraction.
The site was established as a breeding colony of African Penguins in 1985, with two pairs nesting. By 1992, 158 pairs were breeding here, and the numbers have been increasing steadily since then, at a rate of almost 17% per year. This is one of only four mainland breeding sites of the African Penguin in the world. Some Crowned Cormorants use the rocks as roosting sites, and African Black Oystercatchers forage along the beach.
Feral cats, serval cats and probably genets and mongooses prey on penguins at The Boulders, and penguins
have been disturbed and killed by vehicular traffic after wandering onto the M4 road. This is exacerbated by the lack of breeding space, with penguins starting to breed on the mountain side of the main road through town. Though the penguins here are remarkably tame, disturbance by tourists may be a problem. It has been estimated that each penguin’s ‘life earning’ is about US$1,250 – so wildlife does pay!