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. 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 12˝ 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. Considering how precipitous the path is, it's
surprising it didn't take a lot longer. 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.
Stark reminders of the ships that didn't make it are dotted around
the Cape. You'll see their rusty remains on some of the beaches. One
of the more famous wrecks is the Thomas T. Tucker, one of
hundreds of Liberty Ships produced by the United States to enable the
Allies to move vast amounts of supplies during World War II. It wasn't
the U-boats patrolling the coastline that did the ship in. Rather the
fog closed in, and on her maiden voyage in 1942, she ended up on
Olifantsbos Point. Fortunately, all on board were saved, but the wreck
soon broke up in the rough seas that pound the coast.
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 shows 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), and a kiosk sells snacks. There are three gift shops
and an Internet café, where you can send a photo of yourself with Cape
Point in the distance to the folks back home. 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 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. Unfortunately the
indigenous chacma baboons are increasingly under threat, and in 2004
it was estimated that only 125 (98 females and 27 males in 10 troops)
remain in the Cape Peninsula. Many baboons have been shot for raiding
homes and stealing food. Baboon-feeding tourists only exacerbate this
serious situation.
