Baboon Trouble

We traveled to Cape Point - Cape of Good Hope to see where you can see where the Indian and Atlantic Ocean meet. It is the Southern-western most point of Africa.

(my sad attempt at a vertical panorama)

We decided that it would be fun to climb this section of the mountain/cliffs. It does not work too well with flip flops on!! I am glad I put tennis shoes on the kids! (Way to go Mom!)

Maddie and Alex were so excited that they made it to the top. Alex was singing while climbing up. He was like a dwarf in Snow White and instead of singing Hi Ho he was singing Do Dee Do - I am big - this is easy peasy!! He wanted to make sure that we knew what a big boy he is!! (I already know that he is!)

THE TOP! YEAH!!

Mom and Dad Leenstra

The Boys - I mean MEN - Alex's muscle grew during the climb!!!

These tide pools were so awesome. You can see the outline of it. When the tide comes in it fills the "pool" Maddie did not want to dip her feet in too far because of the "green slime" on the side.

Love this picture - Ostriches are crazy looking animals!

OK now to the fun part. Baboon Trouble - Experience #49 that we will never forget - or at least we will talk about for a long time!

We decided to stop at one of the little beaches along Cape Point and we saw a cute couple having a nice picnic on the beach. They were all smiles and in love. On our way to the beach there was a sign warning of the baboons who are nuisances. They can smell food miles away. They warn you to not take food out of your vehicles. (The lovely couple must have missed the signs). When all of the sudden Scott's mom spotted these HUGE baboons behind us. The only way off the beach is where they were. Luckily the kids did not spot them because they were in the water looking out into the ocean. My thoughts were how are we going to get away from them. Well - we found out fast that the baboons were only interested in one thing - FOOD. Two baboons charged at the couple and chased them away from their blanket!! They tore their picnic apart!!

We gathered the kids and ran up top to where our car was. As we were heading to the car, I managed to get a few snap shots! You can see the couple left everything (well they did save their bottle of wine). They left behind their sandals and all. There was another baboon up by our car making this horrific call - calling all the others that there was food!! The baboons had a nice feast and making sure to look over everything and throw the items that were not food. CRAZY!!

We then decided it was time to leave. We passed the public bathroom and noticed it was overtaken by baboons - young and old! The babies were jumping off the light pole and ripping apart diapers they found in the bathroom. Here is a small clip. As you can tell we (Mom and I) were worried about the big baboons - you definitely do not want them to get in or on your vehicle. The kids loved every moment!

Yes you can laugh at me being paranoid! But the baboons were everywhere!!

Anyway - Mom and Dad have a great story to share about their visit.

We are close to the end of our trip. I will post the rest soon.

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I thought I would say Happy Easter to everyone and to enjoy the weekend with your families. Scott and I and the kids volunteered to work at a Youth Camp for the weekend. We are leaving in the afternoon tomorrow and we will not be back until Monday afternoon. Pray for all the kids coming and for us as we are designated to do counseling if needed - night watch - prayer room etc. The camp theme is Devoted and is to be a big camp for teens! We are excited!

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God Bless