We went to the Cape of Good Hope. It is the place where two of the earth’s most contrasting water masses meet. The warm Agulhas current of the East meets the cold Benguela current of the West. The resulting tumult from the meeting of these two water masses led the Cape to first be called the “Cape of Storms.” Dazzle your friends with the fact that this is not the place where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean. That is the Cape of Agulhas, east of the Cape of Good Hope.
The shadow of Diaz Beacon
You remember studying Dias and DaGama in grade school. They were the first to round the Cape of Good Hope and find a way to India in the mid 1400s. The “hope” of reaching the East Indies is how the Cape got its’ name. The explorers were relative newcomers. The Cape had been inhabited for 600,000 years before they arrived.
Cape Point Lighthouse
The day we were at Cape Point was sunny and warm with very little wind, not a common occurence. We walked up to the lighthouse and looked out over a, relatively, placid ocean. Some of the cliffs are 200 meters above the sea.
There are few trees. There is coastal fynbos (“fine bush”) on the alkaline sands and inland fynbos on acid soils leading to the existence of 1100 indiginous plant species. Daisies, lilies and irises have their origins in the fynbos.
Fynbos Plants
Hiking trails thread all through the park. We plan to go back to one that has a huge number of King Protea. I love some of the trail names; Platboom, Rooihoogte, Sirklelsvlei and Pegram’s Point.
We gathered shells on one of the beaches and finally saw a troop of about 30 baboons (in the road) and a herd of elands in the fynbos. These are delicate antelope with graceful horns.
Two elands on the beach…Look hard.
Three ostrich bottoms
There are some rustic camps in the Park called the Hoeryhwaggo Tented Camps that give you the choice of staying on the beach, in the fynbos, exploring the mountain or on a flowering gum plantation. Could be your next vacation.
There used to be farms on the Point.
When we got there, we were the first car in the parking lot. By mid-morning the place was full of tourist busses. Everyone seemed to want group pictures mugging behind the official Cape of Good Hope sign. Many just got off the tour bus, took the picture and left. These are the times we are so glad we are spending three months here because we can explore and come back any time we want. We like infinitesimal travel a lot.
Not THE sign but a better one.
Have you ever visited anywhere where you saw other tourists smelling the bus (or the ship) instead of the roses? Where was it? What did they miss?
MedFlies 