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Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope Review

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Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope

Address: Off the M65 (Plateau Rd.), Cape Town
Phone: 021/780-9526; 021/780-9204
www.sanparks.org

Category: Nature Preserves, Parks
Location: The Peninsula

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Fodor's Review:

Once a nature reserve on its own, this section of Table Mountain National Park covers more than 19,000 acres. Much of the park consists of rolling hills covered with fynbos and laced with miles of walking trails, for which maps are available at the park entrance. It also has beautiful deserted beaches (you can swim at some of these beaches, but note that there are no amenities or lifeguards). Eland, baboon, ostrich, and bontebok (a colorful antelope that was hunted to near extinction in the early 20th century) are among the animals that roam the park. A paved road runs 12½ km (8 mi) to the tip of the peninsula, and a turnoff leads to the Cape of Good Hope, a rocky cape that is the southwesternmost point of the continent. A plaque marks the spot—otherwise you would never know you're standing on a site of such significance.

The opposite is true of Cape Point, a dramatic knife's edge of rock that slices into the Atlantic. Looking out to sea from the viewing platform, you feel you're at the tip of Africa, even though that honor officially belongs to Cape Agulhas, about 160 km (100 mi) to the southeast. From Cape Point the views of False Bay and the Hottentots Holland Mountains are astonishing. The walk up to the viewing platform and the old lighthouse is very steep; a funicular (R31 round-trip, R21 one-way) makes the run every three or four minutes. Take a jacket or sweater—the wind can take your breath away. It took six years, from 1913 to 1919, to build the old lighthouse, 816 feet above the high-water mark. On a clear day the old lighthouse was a great navigational mark, but when the mists rolled in it was useless, so a new and much lower lighthouse (286 feet) was built at Dias Lookout Point. The newer, revolving lighthouse, the most powerful on the South African coast, emits a group of three flashes every 30 seconds. It has prevented a number of ships from ending up on Bellows or Albatross Rock below. You can't go into the lighthouses, but the views from their bases are spectacular.

The park has some excellent land-based whale-watching spots. About June-November, whales return to these waters to calve. You're most likely to see the Southern Right whale in False Bay, but the occasional humpback and Bryde's whale also show up. When the water is calm you may even be lucky enough to see a school of dolphins looping their way past. The Rooikrans parking lot is good for whale-watching, but there are any number of lookout points. It's just a matter of driving around until you see the characteristic spray or a shiny black fluke.

The mast you see on the western slopes of Cape Point near the lighthouse belongs to the Global Atmosphere Watch Station (GAW). The South African Weather Bureau, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Garmisch, Germany, maintains a research laboratory here to monitor long-term changes in the chemistry of the earth's atmosphere, which may impact climate. This is one of 20 GAWs throughout the world, chosen because the air at Cape Point is considered particularly pure most of the time.

A large sit-down restaurant has better views than food (but that is saying a lot). Also here are a kiosk selling snacks and three gift shops. During peak season (December-January), visit Cape Point as early in the day as you can; otherwise you'll be swamped by horrendous numbers of tour buses and their occupants. Fun alternatives include an escorted bike trip to the point with private companies such as BazBus and Daytrippers, and an overnight hike with comfortable basic accommodations and incredible views, which is booked through South African National Parks. Be wary of baboons in the parking lot; they have been known to steal food and can be dangerous if provoked. Do not feed them. Unfortunately the indigenous chacma baboons are increasingly under threat, and in 2006 it was estimated that only 375 (148 females, 43 males, and 184 infants in 10 troops) remain in the Cape Peninsula.

Cost: R55
Open: Apr.-Sept., daily 7-5; Oct.-Mar., daily 6-6; last exit 1 hr after closing

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