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Cape Point

Personal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Cape Point, South Africa. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Cape Point and navigate the world using Google Earth

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S 34° 21.408
E 18° 29.809

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South Africa

Cape Point

Picture of Cape Point (South Africa): Waves hammering the rocky coast at Cape of Good HopeThere are actually two capes close to each other: Cape Point which is the southernmost tip of the peninsula, and the Cape of Good Hope, which is the westernmost and probably better known tip. Contrary to what is widely believed, these capes are neither the southernmost point of Africa, nor the division between the Indian and Atlantic Ocean; Cape of Good Hope is the southwestern most point of Africa. Even so, nature here is wildly spectacular, and the views awesome. I walked down to the viewpoint of the new lighthouse, opened in 1919 at Dias Point on the rocks right off Cape Point itself after it was realized that the old lighthouse, established on top Cape Maclear in 1860, was not visible in the dense fogs that can obsure sight at these points. In fact, quite many ships were shipwrecked on these shores over the last centuries - one of the most famous the Flying Dutchman, which is supposed to still sail around these areas and whom some have claimed to have seen. The Capes were first rounded by Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias in 1488 - he called it Cape of Storms, but the king later optimistically renamed it Cape of Good Hope for the prospects of having found a new route to India. The walk to Dias Point is certainly worth the effort, and brings you close to the new lighthouse and the merciless waves crushing the rocky shores. While I walked to Cape of Good Hope, though, the sluices of the sky finally opened and I got completely soaked in a matter of minutes. The view from the top of the Cape was awful under these conditions, with a very strong wind sending streaming cold rain over me from all directions at once - or so it seemed. The weather would not recover for the rest of the day.
Picture of Cape Point (South Africa): False Bay seen from Cape PointThe next day, unexpectedly and fortunately, the weather had changed for the better, and I decided on a renewed effort to see more of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Taking the nice drive through Hout Bay, where the road to Noordhoek was unfortunately blocked, I explored some of the parts of the park, seeing lots of wildlife on the way, before reaching Cape of Good Hope again. On the way south, I saw a bright rainbow over the sea in a distance, contrasting against an almost black sky, and fantasized about the possibility of seeing one right over Cape Point. But before going there, I stopped at the Cape of Good Hope, where enormous waves were battering the rocks on the coast with their relentless power. As a human being, one feels totally powerless and small compared to this force of nature, and I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular play of crushing waves, a strong wind blowing the tops of the waves into the sky, and the explosive eruption-like effect whenever a wave met with one of the huge rocks right off the coast. But I still had my rainbow fantasy, left the Cape of Good Hope behind and drove the last stretch to Cape Point. While other people were running down, escaping the rain that had started to pour down now, and on their way to make it to the exit of the park in time, I was frantically running up - wondering what I would see from the top. When I finally looked over the edge, I screamed in awe at what I saw. A perfectly round rainbow formed a perfect viewing window of Cape Point in its middle. This scene was so magical - I somehow hoped it would last forever. As I continued looking down, the rainbow grew even more intense in colours, and a secondary rainbow appeared around it. The rainbow stretched from one side of the cape to the other. Gradually, as the showers receded, the rainbow slowly dissolved into the cloudy skies, still giving a mysterious touch to this mythical place. When I eventually walked down to make it out of the nature reserve on time, I was totally elated by the beautiful natural phenomenon I had just seen.

Visited: August 2009, October 1993

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See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

See pictures of and read about Cape Point South Africa

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