Cape Good Hope is a popular attraction for tourists traveling to Cape Town, South Africa. This beautiful place with unpredictable weather, baboons and adorable penguins playing in the ocean. Here you can fully enjoy the stunning scenery and wealth of wildlife.

Description and location

A hill on the Cape Peninsula, located on the world map near Cape Town. It is mistakenly considered the southernmost point of the continent and the place where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. In fact, the tip is at Cape Agulhas (Agulhas), located on the garden road South Africa, 200 km from the capital of South Africa.

Cold Bengal Current west coast and the warm Agulhas Current converge at the foot of one of Africa's top attractions, which, along with nearby Cape Point, offers spectacular scenery.

The summit is located 70 km from Cape Town. You can get there from the city by car in an hour and a half. Legend has it that the ghosts of the Flying Dutchman's crew haunt the Cape and its waters, although visiting tourists are much more likely to see penguins, antelope and perhaps a right whale.

Geographic coordinates of the cape: 54°31′08″ north latitude and 42°04′15″ east longitude. Altitude: 93 m

origin of name

The historical fact of why the Cape of Good Hope is called that is quite interesting. It dates back to the time of exploration in the 15th century, when European powers Spain and Portugal sent sailors to unknown places in search of wealth. The first European to see and discover the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeo Dias, who was looking for the southern borders of the African continent. The date of the expedition he led is considered to be 1486.

According to some historical sources, Dias called his discovery "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas), but later changed it to the current name of the cape (Cabo da Boa Esperança), so named at the suggestion of King John II of Portugal because of the trade opportunities it brought this place. According to other sources, Dias himself came up with this name. He was from a family of hereditary sailors. His older brothers, moving south along the shores West Africa, discovered Capes Bojador and Zeleny.

History of the Cape

Nine years passed before Vasco da Gama, another Portuguese sailor, also attempted to travel to the southern tip of Africa on his way to India. The sailors met people from the Khoya tribe, and several members of Vasco da Gama's crew were injured in the clash with them. Other important facts in the history of this area are:

1. Although the Portuguese were the first to travel the Cape, they were not seriously interested in southern Africa. They were wary of the indigenous population, and the weather was sometimes treacherous and dangerous.
2. Some early Portuguese navigators chose not to sail around this area. Moreover, in terms of trade, South Africa had very little to offer: gold had not yet been discovered, and the land seemed desolate and unpromising.
3. In June 1580, almost 100 years later, Sir Francis Drake sailed past the cape. He was in trip around the world commissioned by Elizabeth I of England. The weather was calm and the scenery serene. This view inspired Sir Francis Drake to say the following words: “This cape is the grandest thing and the fairest cape that we have seen in all the circumference of the earth.” More British expeditions followed, and soon other European countries followed in their footsteps.
4. In the first half of the 17th century, the English and Dutch used the route, which was supposed to go around the cape, for trade purposes. Danish and French ships stopped to replenish water supplies and stock up on fresh food.
5. Although English, French and Dutch East India companies toyed with the idea of ​​establishing a base on the Cape in the 17th century, it was the Dutch who finally took the first step.

On December 31, 1687, a group of Huguenots was sent to the Cape from the Netherlands. They fled France to escape religious persecution. The Dutch East India Company needed skilled farmers in the Cape, and the Dutch government saw an opportunity for the Huguenots by sending them there.

The Cape of Good Hope plays an important role in South African history as a stopping point for merchant ships sailing between Europe and the European colonies to the east. Europeans initially bartered with the locals for food and water, but on April 6, 1652, the Dutch East India Company, under the leadership of merchant Jan van Riebeeck, established a small supply station in a sheltered bay beyond the Cape Peninsula, forming the first European settlement in the region.

On January 19, 1806, Great Britain occupied the extreme point of the peninsula. It was ceded to Great Britain in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 and was henceforth administered as Cape Colony.

Today, the small station that provided refreshments to weary sailors has grown into the bustling city of Cape Town.

Vegetable world

The Cape Peninsula is one of eight protected areas in the region jointly recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage for wealth flora. Although the 553,000-hectare Cape flower region represents only 0.5% of Africa's area, it contains almost 20% of the continent's plants. Fynbos, or "fine bush", is the most common category of plants found here, and many species are unique to the peninsula.

The cape is part National Park Mesa, and park rangers can be seen working to remove invasive species such as wattle, pine and blue gum that threaten the survival of native plants.

wild nature

The peninsula is rich wildlife, especially birds. Its shores are inhabited by the gannet, the African black oyster hunter and 4 species of cormorants. But the most famous feathered inhabitants are the penguins at Boulders Beach. Tourists can get an up-close look at one of the few colonies on the mainland at False Bay. There are special paths here that will lead you through the natural habitat of penguins, and if you visit this place between February and August, you can also see fluffy chicks.

Cape mountain zebra is occasionally found in these areas. But more common inhabitants are baboons, several species of antelope and the small, furry dassie, the elephant's closest relative. You can also watch whales and dolphins here.

Classes and activities

One of the main attractions of South Africa is a narrow peninsula overlooking the ocean. But such a location implies the presence of wind and unpredictable weather. However, the landscape that opens to visitors will not leave anyone indifferent:

1. The coastline meets a backdrop of clouds with occasional glimpses of sun to create a dramatic landscape. While here, you can watch the zebras wandering around. It is also a great place for whale watching between June and November.
2. You should climb the lighthouse to see best views to the cape There are 3 ways to get to the top. There is a path with long stone stairs along the coastline. This route offers the best views of the coast. From the parking lot there is a road all the way to the top. The climb is quite easy and not very strenuous. For those who do not want or are unable to walk, there is the Flying Dutchman funicular, which will take you to observation deck in 3 minutes for a small fee.
3. A drive along the Cape Peninsula is one of the favorite additions to tourist route in Cape Town. The highlights of a day trip are the southernmost points of the Cape, and the stunning sea cliffs and ocean views will make tourists feel like they're on the edge of the earth.

Best places

Muizenberg Beach. Muizenberg is a beach suburb of Cape Town known for its white sandy shore and the very colorful houses that decorate it. The warm waters of the Indian Ocean are an added bonus and attract surfers to this place.

Simon's Town and Boulders Beach. Simon's Town is a historic and charming naval town on the shores of False Bay, and Boulders Beach is famous for its colony of African penguins. Thousands of individuals go about their daily business: cleaning their wings, looking after their children. The Boulders Beach walk is done on a wooden plank. If you want to get closer to the penguins, you need to go further along sand dunes to Foxy Beach, but be aware that penguins can be aggressive and if you get too close you can experience how sharp their beaks are.

Cape Point. This peak can be reached by driving just over 1 km east of the main headland. This is where the Flying Dutchman funicular is located, offering views of the lighthouse.

Chapman's Peak Drive. Nothing compares to Atlantic coast, riddled with winds, and Chapman Peak bestows ocean road the most breathtaking view. This toll highway is carved into the rock and features nearly vertical climbs and blind turns. It starts in the fishing village of Hout Bay and runs to Chapman's Point before ending in Noordhoek. The ocean views are incredible all along the route, but the best are from Chapman's Point, the highest point on the road.

Bartolomeo Dias, a Portuguese navigator, was the first to round the cape in 1488. When he returned, he stopped at the southwestern tip of Africa and called it Cape of Storms. But King John II of Portugal renamed it, calling it the Cape of Good Hope. Vasco da Gama's ship rounded this cape in 1497 on its way to India. The brave voyages of Portuguese sailors made it possible to pave sea ​​route around the cape, then regular voyages began, but due to the deceptive coastline and dangerous fogs, these places saw many shipwrecks.

In order to reduce the risk of possible disasters, it was decided to build a lighthouse on the cape. The first lighthouse was built in 1857 at 238 m above sea level, but it turned out to be so high that fog and clouds obscure it for more than 900 hours a year. After the Portuguese liner Lusitania sank in 1911, the lighthouse was moved to another location and built only 87 meters above sea level. Construction work began in 1913 and continued for almost six years due to the difficulty of transporting building materials here and unfavorable weather conditions. The lighthouse is the most powerful on the coast of South Africa. Visible at a distance of 63 km, it emits three flashes of light every 30 seconds with a power of 10 million candles.

The area around the lighthouse

On the shore around the lighthouse, today you can see the remains of 26 ships that failed to round the cape. One of the most famous shipwrecks was that of the USS Thomas T. Tucker, one of hundreds of ships built by the United States to help the Allies transport supplies during World War II. On its first voyage, the ship lost its course due to fog and collided with rocks.

The picturesque area around the lighthouse consists of green hills through which trails lead down to secluded beaches where elan antelopes, baboons, ostriches and bonteboks, brightly colored antelopes, are found. From this side of the cape, it’s hard to even imagine how many tragedies happened so close by.

Somehow, with my business and travels, I completely forgot to continue the story about my trip to South Africa.
I'm correcting myself.

So. Having ascended in the most roundabout way, swam with, met New Year in a crowd of thousands on the embankment, early in the morning of January 1, we found the strength to load ourselves into the cars and set off towards our hopes.
Or rather, one hope. But very kind.
Namely, to the Cape of Good Hope.

What were these heroic efforts for and why was it necessary to go early in the morning?
Yes, because during the day so many people rush there that all hopes can be wasted while standing in an endless traffic jam.

The Cape of Good Hope is located on the Cape Peninsula, just south of Cape Town.
And this is where a little confusion often arises. For there is a geographical point - the Cape of Good Hope itself.
Where there is nothing but hope.
And there is Cape Point, where there is a lighthouse called the Cape of Good Hope. There are also all sorts of souvenir shops, cafes and life in general. So many limit themselves to coming to this very place.

We, like real travelers, decided to land at the Cape of Good Hope. And then go to the lighthouse.
At first, the idea was to go to both places by car. But after looking at the map, I categorically stated that we had to go on foot.
Who would doubt that.

The Cape on the morning of January 1st was surprisingly deserted. And the ocean delighted the eye with its crazy color.

By the way, forgive my geographical criticism, I still don’t remember what kind of ocean it was.

However, coastline the continent here turns east for the first time, opening a passage from Atlantic Ocean towards Indian.
So let's consider it a mix of two oceans.

The Cape of Good Hope is not the southernmost point of Africa. But in order to give this place some status and meaning for tourists’ stay, it was designated the most southwestern point of the continent.
What a memorial plaque was installed about.

All. There is nothing else on the cape.
Therefore, without stopping for long, we followed the path along the coast past the bizarre rocks to Cape Point.

Wow, he can be seen in the distance.

Wind, rocks, waves beating against rocks - this place would be much more suited to its original name - Cape of Storms.
Because when a storm rages here, there is not much to hope for.
But history, as we know, is made by optimists. That's why the cape got this name.

From the Cape of Good Hope to the lighthouse you can walk in about forty minutes. But we weren’t chasing records.
They walked, turned their heads to the sides, and constantly stopped to take pictures or capture another impressive view.
So the walk lasted for two hours.

Approximately in the middle of the path there is an absolutely charming beach where you should definitely go down.

Of course we went down there and wandered around.
And Pasha, despite the icy water and huge waves, even seemed to take a swim.
Well, Pasha is completely crazy.
At the top of the Lion's Head mountain, literally buying into the "weak" approach, I stood in the plank position for five minutes.
Five minutes! Before that, he didn’t even know what a plank was.

However, I digress. We're on the beach.

On a very romantic beach. Someone even made a heart out of seaweed.

By the way, for me personally it was a discovery that one of the most terrible and romantic legends is associated with the Cape of Good Hope.

Do you know which one?
I didn’t know - the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Somewhere here he surfs the waves of the ocean.

However, when you walk along picturesque paths on a sunny day, the last thing you think about is all sorts of creepy stories.

You can take a small trailer from the parking lot to the lighthouse.
But then you can pass by the baboons.

It's not that I like baboons that much. Quite the opposite. Of all the representatives of the monkey family, they are the least attractive to me.
But, as you know, the tourist’s commandment is that if there is a baboon, you need to see it.

Or maybe it’s not necessary, I thought, seeing what the father of the family was doing while the mother was babysitting the children.

However, when he saw that I was photographing him, he somehow quickly became embarrassed, dropped what he was doing and covered himself with his paws.

But the impression of communicating with the beautiful animal world was somehow already spoiled.
I had to go straight to the lighthouse to natural beauties level out moral damage.

Lighthouse, like a lighthouse. Nothing special.
Nearby is a traditional tourist places stand with different distances settlements.
Such things are put up, apparently, to amaze the tourist - he has gone far. But for some reason this does not touch a single string of my tender soul.

It is much more interesting to go around some old buildings and go to the very ends of the earth.

At least there you can take a photo from the "Edge of the World" series.

I already had a photo like this from geographical point This is exactly the name of Cape World's End.
It is located on the island of Shikotan in the Kuril Islands. In my opinion, it is much more picturesque there, but that’s a matter of taste.

After a long walk, it's time to eat.
So I passed the time while waiting for everyone to gather, eating pizza, which some very harmful birds blatantly tried to take away from me.
They behaved very brazenly.

I also sent a postcard.
The postcard never arrived. Apparently I got lost :(

When I had done all my work and was almost bored, everyone else finally found me and joyfully informed me that plans had changed.
Our cunning plan, which was that Misha would come by car to the lighthouse, take a second driver with him, they would quickly drive to the cape for the second car, and we would all go home, failed miserably. As is usually the case with brilliant plans.

It turned out that there was such a traffic jam at the lighthouse that it would take about two hours. So Misha didn’t follow us.
Vika and Arseny left in a car that was foreign to us.

Well, we went back on foot to good hope. Just like the Flying Dutchman, wandering the seas without rest.

Apparently this hope wanted to let us go just like that.
But now, with a sense of accomplishment, we could definitely say that we had sailed the length and breadth of the Cape of Good Hope.

Well, what else do real tramps need?

To find the Cape of Good Hope, sailors set out on their journey more than once, suffered failures and wrecks, but did not stop searching - the road to India must be open. It is the rocky cape, which is the most extreme point in southwest Africa, a place where the waters of two oceans collide with each other, forming a seething white strip breaking against the rocks, opened the way for them to Asia.

The Cape of Good Hope is located in Africa and is the southernmost part of the Cape Peninsula, from where it turns north and after forty-five meters abuts Cape Point, at the foot of which, on the opposite side, begins False Bay, whose waters are heated by the warm current of the Indian Ocean .

The temperature of both air and water in the east of the peninsula is much warmer than on its western side, where the Benguela Current flows from Antarctica. True, the winds blow stronger here and tourists are rarely allowed to calmly soak up the warm rays.

Despite the fact that the Cape of Good Hope has long been considered the most extreme point of Africa, it is in fact Cape Agulhas (on the map it is located more than one hundred and fifty kilometers in the south) east direction).

This cape is notable for the fact that from it the African coast turns eastward for the first time and opens a passage between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans(you can accurately calculate where the Cape of Good Hope is on the map using the following coordinates: 34° 21′ 32.88″ S, 18° 28′ 21.06″ E).

History of discovery

The Cape of Good Hope was discovered at the end of the 15th century. Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias, to whom the king set a specific task. It was necessary to find out whether it was possible to go around Africa from the south and get to India. For his country, located in western Europe, it was extremely costly to organize land expeditions to Asia.

The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope happened by accident, and unexpected help was provided by a terrifying storm that mercilessly tossed the Portuguese ships for several days: when the ocean calmed down, it turned out that Dias had no idea where the bad weather had taken him. He randomly went north and after some time found himself off the coast of Africa, which turned in an easterly direction.

True, he did not sail further: provisions were running out, the ships were in poor condition, and the crew rebelled. They decided to return home, and on the way he noticed a cape, rounding which he saw that the coast of Africa stretches north, home.

It is interesting that initially, seeing the beating about high cliffs ocean waves, he decided to call this piece of land the Cape of Storms.

But the king of Portugal did not like the ominous name, and he gave it a more optimistic name - the Cape of Good Hope, hoping that the road to India had really been discovered. His hope was justified: a few years later, Vasco da Gama, having passed the Cape of Good Hope, sailed to India.

Cape lighthouses

Calling the rocky area of ​​land protruding into the sea Cape Storms, Dias gave it a fairly accurate name: strong currents, winds, storms, fogs, and sometimes icebergs floating into this area led to the wreck of a huge number of ships. An important role in this was played by the fact that the rocks along the coast were not only similar to each other, but also often shrouded in fog.

This often threw sailors sailing from India off course: they turned north ahead of time and ended up in False Bay.

If they were lucky, the ships ran into Sandy shore, but mostly they just crashed against the rocks. This bay is notable for the fact that sailing ship It is not always possible to get out of it - despite the fact that it is very windy here, you can easily spend almost six months here waiting for a suitable air flow.

Despite all these circumstances, the authorities on the cape built a lighthouse only in the middle of the 19th century. - and that was after, during one of the inspections, inspectors noticed icebergs floating towards the coast. Ice blocks off the coast of Africa shocked them so much that the decision to build a lighthouse and observation post here was made almost immediately. It was built on the nearby Cape Point Mountain, which offers a magnificent view of the Cape of Good Hope.

Lighthouse No. 1

Construction of the first lighthouse was completed in 1860. It was located at an altitude of 270 m - and it could be seen from a distance of 80 km. There was one “but”: it was designed in Britain, so the British, unfamiliar with the climatic features of southern Africa, did not take into account one detail: the top of the mountain on which it was decided to install the structure was often shrouded in clouds at night, making the lighthouse absolutely useless. At the same time, it “served” for about half a century, until journalists paid attention to the problem.

The first case that attracted widespread public attention was the wreck in 1900 of the newest steamship Cockapoo, which was heading from Britain to New Zealand. Deceived by the lighthouse and low clouds, the captain gave the wrong command, as a result of which a high tidal wave threw the ship onto the coast. The authorities managed to hush up this story, accusing the captain of negligence.

But the crash that happened eleven years later could not be silenced: the huge Portuguese liner Lusitania hit a reef a few kilometers from a working, but completely obscured by clouds, lighthouse. It was possible to save the passengers (there were almost eight hundred people on the ship) only because the ship sat very firmly on the reef, which gave time to launch all the rescue boats.

The lighthouse keeper, having received the distress signal, came down with a lit lantern, orienting the liner's crew and allowing almost all the boats to land safely on the shore, except one (it capsized and four of its passengers died). The decision to build a second lighthouse was made, but this one was closed and now serves as a museum, with magnificent views from the observation deck.

Lighthouse No. 2

Despite the fact that the new lighthouse is located lower, at an altitude of 88 meters, and can be seen at a shorter distance, 40 km, its benefits were much greater - shipwrecks in this area were almost reduced to zero. At the end of the 20th century, an electric cable was laid to the lighthouse, restaurants were erected, a funicular was installed leading from the parking lot to the top of the mountain adjacent to the cape, Cane Point, and after conducting an appropriate advertising campaign, they gave impetus to the development of a successful tourism business.

National Park

The Cape of Good Hope is separated from the second most populous city in South Africa, Cape Town, by almost seventy kilometers, and therefore you can get from the capital of the Western Cape Province, armed with a map, by car on a very good road in four hours.

The road will not seem boring, since the way here lies through National Park“Table Mountain”, whose area exceeds 7 thousand hectares, and it itself is distinguished by extremely lush vegetation.

The fauna of the reserve is also interesting: next to monkeys, ostriches, antelopes and cheetahs, spectacled penguins and fur seals feel great here, which not only sailed here from Antarctica, but also managed to adapt to the conditions of local life.

Spectacled penguins

Penguins live on the west coast called Boulders Beach. It was no coincidence that they chose this place of residence: the cold waters of the Bengal Current help the birds endure the heat - they spend most of their time in the water. And only during nesting, in winter, when the air temperature becomes more or less optimal, do they stay on land for a long time. Interestingly, they hatch their eggs in burrows that they dig in the decomposed remains of bird droppings, which helps protect the eggs from overheating.

They are enabled to maintain optimal body temperature by pink-colored markings located above the eyes and acting as a kind of air conditioner: when birds become very hot, heated blood begins to flow faster to the markings, where, thanks to the thin skin, it quickly cools.

Seal Island

Sometimes fur seals rest near the cape, having swum here from their rookery located on small island, just behind the lighthouse, in False Bay (about 75 thousand animals live there). Such a huge colony could not help but attract the attention of white sharks constantly swimming into this bay.

Therefore, from May to September, the island of fur seals is literally surrounded by predators who patiently wait for prey, and as soon as they see an opportunity, they jump out and grab the seal with their teeth and go to the bottom. Interestingly, False Bay is the only place in the world where sharks jump completely out of the water while hunting.

The Cape of Good Hope is one of the most famous places in Africa. For a long time it was considered the extreme southern point of the continent, until it turned out that the neighboring Cape Agulhas is several meters further south. But by that time, the Cape of Good Hope had become famous throughout the world, and is still popular among tourists.

In the first part of the post I will talk about him, and in the second - about the most unusual inhabitants of Africa. Oddly enough, penguins live on the black continent and we went to the coast, where their colonies nest (or rather, even burrow)...

These stones in the water are the end of the Cape of Good Hope:

3.

There is a parking lot nearby on the shore where you can drive your car. What we did:

4.

After it was discovered that there was a mistake with the southern point, the Cape of Good Hope was given another honorary category, calling it the most southwestern point of the continent. This is what the inscription on the sign says, next to which everyone takes pictures.

For the first time, I saw a large group of tourists taking pictures: everyone put their cameras in a line in front of the guide, and he took pictures in turn with each camera. It turns out this photographic conveyor belt lasts about fifteen minutes:

5.

Nearby there is a walking path to the cape itself:

6.

Somewhere the path goes along the ground, and somewhere there are wooden stairs. There are many black lizards on them that look like miniature crocodiles:

View from Cape of Hope on the South African coast:

8.

The most fearless tourists take pictures with their feet dangling from the cliff:

9.

And I just filmed my legs against the background of the cliff to show how steep it is:

10.

Regular readers know that I love to take photos in different places with a star jump. The Cape of Good Hope was no exception:

11.

The neighboring mountain, Cape Point, is significantly higher than the Cape of Good Hope and can be reached by cable car. Our random fellow travelers in the carriage also turned out to be Russian speakers:

12.

There are three lighthouses on this mountain - in the most highest point, somewhere in the middle and down by the sea. Only the last one works, since both top ones are hard to see in foggy weather:

13.

However, the tall lighthouse is popular with tourists as it offers excellent views of the Cape of Good Hope:

14.

On the observation deck there is a traditional indicator of distances to major cities of the world. I didn’t find Moscow there:

15.

A beautiful view of the meeting of two oceans - the Atlantic (right) and Indian (left). Their currents are so strong that not far from the shore they collide with each other and form a white seething seam on the calm water surface. Before the Cape was given the name of Good Hope, the first European navigator called it the Cape of Streams:

16.

The water element is also raging at the foot:

17.

I took this photo of the Cape and Cape Point a day later from Table Mountain, another famous hill in South Africa (I’ll talk about it in detail in one of the following posts):

18.

After the Cape of Good Hope we went for lunch near Penguin Beach. Street performers danced near its entrance:

19.

On the coast where penguins live, there is something like a small nature reserve. Having paid five euros for the entrance, you find yourself on long bridges, behind which birds walk:

20.

There are enough people who want to see African penguins:

21.

However, there are also a lot of penguins. They live in burrows, go to sea for fish and come back to feed their offspring:

22.

This type of penguin is called spectacled or donkey. Why the donkey is clear: it makes sounds similar to the mooing of a donkey. Why spectacled is not clear:

23.

Spectacled penguins are listed in the International Red Book and the South African Red Book. This is due to the uncontrolled consumption of penguin eggs by African residents. Initially, the population of the species numbered two million individuals, but during the twentieth century, when 450 thousand eggs per year were collected for scrambled eggs, about twenty thousand remained:

24.