The Flying Penguin - Crawl #54 Revisited

The Flying Penguin Cafe is located in the SAMREC building 

Hahaha

One of the many things I love about PE is its proximity to the water.  PE residents are sooooo fortunate to have the ocean right in their own backyards.  Every opportunity that Lou and I have we head to the shore to walk, swim, hike, or just gaze out at the waves.  I so enjoy the Coffee Crawls when we are at or near the water, and there have been quite a few, including our January 15 Crawl which took us to Cape Recife for our shop #54 revisit.

Just hanging out enjoying the sunshine!

SAMREC operates solely on
donations and volunteer work

In March 2012 we first visited The Flying Penguin located in the SAMREC building at Cape Recife (see March, 2012 post).   SAMREC (South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre) houses ailing and injured marine creatures, mainly penguins, at the facility.  Locals and tourists flock to SAMREC for an opportunity to see the African penguins up close.  The Flying Penguin Cafe offers beverages, light lunches, and a variety of cakes to the SAMREC visitors.
The Flying Penguin owner, Michelle Brackenridge, acts as chef, baker, barista, and waitron for the cafe's patrons.  Quite the busy lady!

In keeping with the SAMREC and ocean theme, the cafe is decorated with ocean artwork and photography along with outrageously creative crafts incorporating just about anything to do with marine life.  The Crawlers especially like the glass top tables showing off a variety of shells found right at Cape Recife.  It's definitely worth the trip just to check out these tables!

Glass top display table

Another table displaying more shells from Cape Recife

The shop seats about thirty guests in a bright and airy dining room overlooking the penguin rocks and pool....the perfect way to finish off your visit to SAMREC.  The Flying Penguin's hours are Tues - Sun, 10-4.  Call Michelle at 041 583 1830 or 084 869 2741 for a booking.

We had a large group, including two newcomers, at The Flying Penguin Crawl.  Crawlers Margaret Zoetmulder, Dale Mitchell, newcomer Sharon Helm, Nomusa Nkomo, Nicolette Hijmans, Margaret and Arthur Marshall, Leanne Waller and her sons Daniel and Luke, June Nash, Elize Pretorius and her newcomer friend Zdenka, Vicki Minnaar, Pierrette De Winne, Colleen Le Roux, Sylvia Mynhardt, Stella and Beryl Dawson enjoyed the gorgeous summer day watching the penguins while Daniel and Luke got to assist the SAMREC volunteers.  When the outside activities were over, we all settled inside for Masterton's coffee, cake, and conversation.  Everyone was anxious to hear all about Dale's new great-grandson.  He was less than a week old on Crawl day but Dale and Sharon (the grandmother) already had so many stories to tell!

This Week's Crawlers
Zdenka, Margaret Z., June, Arthur, Elize, Nicolette,
Vicki, Sylvia, Margaret M., Colleen, Leanne, Luke,
Daniel, Stella, Beryl, Nomusa, Dale
not pictured - Sharon and Pierrette

Another topic of conversation at my end of the table ended up being, of all things, road kill!  I have observed in my almost 5 years of living in SA that there is much less road kill visible here on the roads than in the States.  Hmmmmmm?  Anyway, I went on to tell the Crawlers about my contribution to the NY road kill one winter when I hit 5 white-tail deer in less than a month.  My neighbors dubbed me "The Deer Slayer," giving Natty Bumppo some competition.
Always riveting conversation at the Crawl!

All in all it was a wonderful morning spent in the company of our African penguin friends.  I'm definitely looking forward to more Crawls at the beach!


~Thank you to Michelle for hosting such a large group!
~Belated happy birthday wishes to my sister, Elaine, in Erie, PA - January 23
~Belated happy birthday wishes to my father-in-law and president of the PECC fan club, Sabie, in
  Binghamton, NY - January 24

Until next week,

Ellen

The Bay Leaf - Crawl #53 Revisited

Happy 2015 to one and all from the PE Coffee Crawlers!

January 1 fell on a Thursday, our usual Crawl day, bur since most of the Crawlers didn't get home from the New Year's party until 3 a.m. or later, no one was going to drag out of bed for coffee at 9.  January 8, then was the first Crawl of 2015.

The Crawlers started off the new year with a revisit to shop #53, The Bay Leaf in the MetLife Plaza near Makro.  When we first visited The Bay Leaf in February, 2012 it was a relatively new coffee shop having opened for business just three months prior.  Now, almost three years later, the shop is going strong.  Everything is pretty much the same as how I wrote it up on my February, 2012 post, a hard copy of which is framed and hanging on a wall in the shop!  So, you can check out my first Bay Leaf post in the PECC archives on your computer or just stop by the shop and read it there....after you've ordered the R30 Coffee/Cake Special or something else from the bakery or the extensive menu.

The only change, besides staffing, that I noticed is that The Bay Leaf now offers Peacock brand coffee.  Baristas Thule and Dolly definitely make a good strong cuppa Peacock!  Nice job ladies!

Peacock cappuccino

Yummy Mozart Cake!

The Bay Leaf's hours are Mon-Fri, 8-7; Sat, 8-6; Sun, 8-4.  Call 041 360 7494 for a booking, take away orders, or to get info on hosting your next function at The Bay Leaf.

Meet The Bay Leaf manager and baristas
Dolly, Cherese, Thule

Meet our waiter
Joel with all the delicious baked goods!

One of the many reasons that I started this blog when I moved to PE was so that I could learn my way around the city.  Overall, that has pretty much worked for me.  After almost four years of Crawling,  I often get asked by long time PE residents where some "off-the-beaten-path" place is (coffee shop or otherwise).  With over 100 coffee shops as my reference I can usually answer with a high degree of confidence.
However, my mind was elsewhere on Thursday and I actually got lost going to The Bay Leaf.  I found myself out Kragga Kamma way wondering where I was going, what I was doing, and how I was going to get back.  I was totally disoriented!  Once I arrived at The Bay Leaf,  Margaret Zoetmulder (many, many years my senior!) laughed and took way too much pleasure in telling me that I'm just getting old.  Can't help but love her!!!

This week's Crawlers
Vicki, Beth, Daniel, Fran, Nomusa, Stella, June,
 Beryl, Margaret, Gail, Prudie, Mandy

For much of our visit to The Bay Leaf, Crawlers Margaret Zoetmulder, Beth Vieira, Vicki Minnaar, Gail Darne, June Nash and her grandson Daniel, Nomusa Nkomo, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Fran and Mandy de Beer, Prudie Brown, caught up with Mandy and Prudie who are both visiting from out of town.  It was so nice seeing them both again.  We also discussed venue possibilities for the upcoming 4-year PECC anniversary.  Many ideas but no decision made yet.  We have a whole month so I'm sure we'll come up with something spectacular!

Chai latte

Thule is sooooo photogenic!

Our Bay Leaf revisit proved to be a wonderful start to 2015.  We're all looking forward to the Crawling adventures that the new year has in store for us.

~Thank you to Cherese and the Bay Leaf staff
~Congratulations to Dale Mitchell on the birth of her great grandson - January 10
~Happy Birthday to Crawler Dale Mitchell - January 17
~Happy Birthday to Grant Foong! - January 17

Until next week (music to my ears!),

Ellen