A visit from the local baboons..........

Having received lots of warnings to be aware of the baboons in Pringle Bay and having only seen them on one occasion some weeks ago when visiting the area, we had become a little blase I suppose. Heard the neighbour's dogs barking today and looked out to see an enormous guy wandering into the garden. This house is strictly beach cottage stuff with no defined garden or fences and is surrounded by fynbos, great haven for snakes. Rushed to close doors and windows so that he could not get into the house, went into the bedroom to follow his progress, heard a noise in the sitting room, rush back to discover one little sod had opened the window, climbed in through the burglar guards, (cottage pane window type) and taken the five bananas on the counter top. He went strolling off with a peeled banana clutched in his hand and left me a pile of skins on the veranda. Now I know why I was warned not to leave food visible. So our first encounter with baboons was interesting to say the least... The only damage was that he knocked over my radio/CD player on the way out, walked past my sewing which was spread all over a small table and made straight for the fruit bowl, left us a peach 'tho.
It is actually quite sad that the baboons are so threatened here as it is after all their territory and there has to be some acceptance on the part of the residents. Must admit to having a healthy respect for these furry creatures due to a close encounter as a child growing up in Central Africa.
Megan and I went for a long walk yesterday evening looking at the houses. I must admit that I am a bit of a socialist. To see enormous houses standing empty for most of the year as they are purely holiday homes, seems quite ridiculous especially in a country where poverty is so prevalent and a lot of the population live in tiny shacks. Do people really need to have two homes!! Maybe I am a little jealous?
The Siamese cat has not visited today, still don't know where she lives. The weather here is much kinder than in Cape Town and apart from the fact that a strong wind seems to blow constantly, 'tho hot during the day it is a little cooler at night. We had to give up on our beach stroll this evening as it was rather chilly, quite something in the middle of summer.
The scenery is beautiful, so as promised a series of pictures....................



Will try and load some more tomorrow as I have been on the internet for over an hour and have had major problems downloading pictures.