Sunday 17 May 2009

Cape Point

As you have seen before we really love it on the Cape Peninsula but until 3rd May we hadn’t made it all the way to the end and Cape Point.

As the weather was good we decided to pack up some lunch and head off down the N2 and travel down through Muizenberg and Simon’s Town to get to the National Park entrance. As usual there were plenty of interesting sights to be seen on the way but this one at the side of the street in Muizenberg just has to be the winner!


Eventually we got to the entrance, paid our R60 (£4) and headed into the beautiful and unspoilt southern tip of the Peninsula. The scenery is simply breathtaking with the cliffs giving great views across False Bay back towards Strand, Somerset West and Stellenbosch.

We parked the car and started to walk up to the lighthouse at the point itself rather than take the funicular as apparently exercise is good for you! As we made our way up the steps we were treated to fantastic views of the Cape of Good Hope, actually a separate promontory to Cape Point and not just another name for the same place as I had assumed.


We continued the climb until we reached the old lighthouse, towering above the sea and looked back along the coast towards Cape Town.


The old lighthouse was replaced in 1919 as it was often obscured from view by mist and cloud. The new lighthouse really is at the very south-eastern tip of Africa, built out from the rock its light can be seen from 34 miles away and is South Africa’s most powerful. There is a walkway between the two lighthouses so we decided to have our lunch as near to the SE corner of Africa as possible and enjoy the uninterrupted views towards the South Pole!


As the sun began to set we made our way back to the ‘bakkie’ and got someone to take the obligatory photo of us posing with the Cape Point sign – typical tourists!


There were now only a handful of people about and the local Baboon troop had started to move in, looking for food and other items left by that day’s visitors. Obviously accustomed to human beings they didn’t seem at all concerned at our presence and were more than happy to pose for pictures!


The sun set as we headed out of the National Park and on towards Kommetjie on the way back to Cape Town.

Another wonderful day in SA!


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