The Cape of Good Hope

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Thursday, January 7, 2016

Unbelievably, this is our final day in CapeTown. It is without doubt a magnificent city, with an enviable lifestyle and climate. We have loved it and would return in the blink of an eye.
The Cape Doctor set in last night. This is a strong, dry, south easterly wind that blows through the city, removing any pollution and humidity to the ocean. Boy does it gust and rattle the hinges, but it is warm, which is a blessing.
It has been a long, but great day. We set off to drive the Atlantic coast via Camps Bay, Hout Bay and Chapman's Peak to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. It is a spectacular drive hugging the shoreline most of the way. The mountains descend almost to the ocean and the vistas of coastline and blue green ocean are spellbinding. The further south one drives, the more rugged the scenery. Outcrops of rock and a multi coloured tapestry of fynbos dominate the landscape. The fynbos vegetation is perfectly adapted to the environment and subtle, but taken as a whole quite beautiful. One enters another section of the Table Mountain National Park approaching the end of the Cape Peninsula. There are two major sites to visit, Cape Point and The Cape of Good Hope itself. Here is the most south westerly point of the continent of Africa and the popularly perceived meeting of two major oceans, the Indian and Atlantic. This is in fact not the case, as here meet two contrasting currents, the cold West Coast Benguela current and the warm East Coast Angulhas current. The actual geographical meeting point of the oceans is in fact further up the coast at Cape Angulhas. The Cape of Good Hope is surprisingly low key, a fantastic shoreline and promontory, but little else. Cape Point is the more lauded of the two, as there is a lighthouse you can climb up to on the 200 ft cliffs looking out over the wild ocean. You take a funicular railway to the base of the lighthouse and climb from there. There were signs warning one to beware of the baboons, but we didn't see any until driving away and there sat one by the side of the road like a little old man hoping for a lift! What we did see however, were a pair of fabulous albatross, riding the winds and skimming just above the waves in effortless style. What a treat.
The homeward drive up the east coast of the peninsula, took us to Simonstown, named for an early Dutch governor Simon van der Stel who was determined to leave his mark, naming Constantia for his daughter and Stellenbosch again for himself. Clearly a man with a large ego!
Simonstown has a distinct English feel and retains some unique old buildings. It has been and is a large naval base for the Royal Navy and since 1957 the South African Navy. On the harbour is the statue of a Gt Dane called 'Able Seaman Just Nuisance'. The only dog to have been enlisted by the Royal Navy, as a moral booster during the Second World War. He adopted the Naval Shore establishment and its sailors, riding the local train to Cape Town and accompanying the drunken sailors back to base. When the rail company threatened to have him put down if his fare wasn't paid, the Navy enlisted him, hence entitling him to free rail travel!
Just up the coast is Boulder's Beach, a stunningly beautiful white sand beach full of.....well huge boulders! Here is a 2000 strong African (jackass) Penguin colony. This was established by two breeding pairs in 1982 and has grown ever since. There is a board walk to follow, which allows one to view the little chaps very closely without disturbing their antics. They were simply charming, full of fun and perfectly turned out for a night on the town! Rafe would have loved them.
We arrived back in Cape Town in the late afternoon having had a superb final day in the Western Cape. It was by necessity a whistle stop tour, but one that will be long remembered.
We dined at another marvellous eatery called 95Keerom this evening. Great setting, food and wine, again for less than £30. What more can I say?Read more