500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [41]
Another incredible kayak trip departs from Simon’s Town, a suburb of Cape Town on the peninsula’s eastern side. After departing from the shores of sheltered False Bay, you’ll paddle a few kilometers south to Boulder’s Beach, where African penguins have lived since around 1985. Today, almost 2,500 of the tuxedoed birds call the beach home. On your way there, you’ll go past Ark Rock, which is usually covered with sea birds. As you continue paddling through the waves toward Boulder’s Beach, you’ll probably hear the penguins long before you see them; their unique call carries across the water. Even though you know they’re coming, your first sight of them is literally jaw dropping, as you see thousands of black-and-white birds waddling across a white sandy beach sheltered by giant granite rocks. This remarkable penguin colony is only one of two land-based colonies in South Africa; the other one is at Betty’s Bay.
Kayaking around the southwestern-most part of Africa is sure to get your heart pounding, and not only because of the physical exertion. Paddling around the peninsula’s rugged cliffs and private coves, among abundant marine life but few other people, you almost start to feel like an explorer yourself—one who would make Sir Francis Drake proud. —JS
Cape Town Tourism Information Center, Shop 107 Clocktower, V&A Waterfront ( 021/405-4500;www.tourismcapetown.co.za).
Tours: Real Cape Adventures, Cape Town ( 021/790-5611;www.seakayak.co.za). Paddler’s Kayak Shop, 62 St. Georges St., Simon’s Town ( 021/786-262;www.paddlers.co.za).
When to Go: Year-round, although you’ll have the best chance of seeing whales from Aug–Oct; Nov–Mar brings warmer weather.
Cape Town Airport.
$$ The Cape Cadogan, 5 Upper Union St., Cape Town ( 27/21-480-8080;www.capecadogan.com).
89
Catamaran Sailing in Northern California
Flying Across the Golden Gate
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
The spray is cold but I don’t want to move. I’m in the front section of a two-hulled 55-foot (17m) catamaran flat on my stomach and mesmerized by the water rushing underneath me. The sun shines overhead as we fly across San Francisco Bay.
Passing Alcatraz, I sit up for a better look. “Watch your heads!” a voice calls. We all duck as the boom sweeps across the deck snapping the sails into a different position. Zigzagging from one side of the bay to the other, tacking to take advantage of the wind, the Adventure Cat sails toward the Golden Gate Bridge and the ocean beyond. Along the way, the catamaran screams past an occasional freighter, other sailboats, the Presidio, and Sausalito. When it’s time to head home, the wind allows us to race back to the pier, at speeds maxing out above 13 knots. Lying back down on the bouncy trampoline that’s strung between the two hulls, we all appreciate the quiet that comes with riding in a wind-powered boat.
Cruising across the San Francisco Bay in a catamaran is a thrill.
Catamaran sailing is a simple pleasure, but it can also be exhilarating. Being a passenger on one is a great way for adventure seekers to get their thrills without having to take charge themselves, or risk their lives in the process.
Adventure Cat Sailing Charters offers two 11⁄2-hour trips into the bay daily, plus a sunset cruise, several months out of the year. Cruises sail past the city skyline, Alcatraz, and under the Golden Gate Bridge, just touching the Pacific Ocean. (Keep an eye out for sea lions, popular in this part of the country, though no less exciting to see because of their numbers.) The catamaran is moored near Pier 39 in San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf area. While you’re here, look beyond the many touristy shops to notice