Recommended by Sarah Gimbel-Sherr

Swimming with the penguins at Boulders Beach, Cape Town

Address Simonstown, South Africa Map, Tel 00 27 21 786 2392 Call, Website

You easily drive south to Boulders Beach, just south of Simon's Town, from central Cape Town in just 15 minutes. Boulders Beach is the place to get up close and personal with a colony of Jackass Penguins, so called for their comical braying call. This colony was initially started with just two breeding pairs in 1982 and has now grown to over 3000 birds. You can walk along the dock and watch them or take a picnic along and go swimming with them on the safe, sheltered beaches which are ideal for young kids(ours were 5,3, and 1). And it is miraculously uncrowded. It is open daily, is extremely safe and costs 20 rand (about ~3.50 USD to enter for the family)

Afterwards it is another short drive of ~20 minutes to the Cape Point to spot baboons, and enjoy the southernmost point in Africa.