• Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy

Travelling Internasional

  • Tutorial Blogger
  • Tutorial SEO
  • Template Blogger
  • Catatan
  • Teknologi
    • Smartphone
    • Laptop

MENU

  • Alaska
  • Alaska & Canada photos
  • Alaska & Canada Road Trip
  • Alaska Marine Highway
  • Argentina
  • Auckland
  • Australia
  • Bedarra
  • Canada
  • Canberra
  • Chile
  • Chile/Uruguay
  • Christmas
  • Christmas in Rome
  • Colorado
  • Cordoba
  • Cycling
  • Cycling in NSW
  • Cycling in Sydney
  • Cycling in Vic
  • Czech Republic
  • DC
  • Delaware
  • Egypt
  • Europe
  • flying bicycles
  • GreatBarrierReef
  • Guest posts
  • Historic Homes & Gardens
  • Hotel Reviews Australia
  • Hotel reviews Sth America
  • Illinois
  • Jindabyne
  • Kansas
  • Kosciuszko
  • Lists
  • Lizard
  • Lost bags
  • Michigan
  • Miscellaneous posts
  • Missouri
  • New South Wales
  • New Zealand
  • Nth Island New Zealand
  • Pennsylvania
  • Perisher
  • Peru
  • Qualia
  • Queensland
  • RailTrails
  • RailTrailsCyclepaths
  • Rhode Island
  • Road Trip USA - Denver to The Great Lakes
  • Road Trip USA - Washington DC & the north-east
  • Rome
  • Salta
  • Skiing
  • Snowmass 2014
  • Snowy Mountains
  • sponsored post
  • Sth Africa
  • Sth America
  • Sth Australia
  • Sydney
  • Sydney Harbour Islands
  • Thredbo
  • Tips and advice
  • Travel Photo Tuesday
  • Travel Photo Tuesday Alaska
  • Uruguay
  • USA
  • Valparaiso
  • Victoria
  • Virginia
  • Washington State
  • Western Australia
  • Wildlife

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2016 (31)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (4)
    • ►  June (5)
    • ►  May (4)
    • ▼  April (3)
      • The Cape of Good Hope - Cape Point, Chapman's Peak...
      • Cape Town, South Africa
      • South Africa - Cape Town to Port Elizabeth via The...
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (7)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2015 (53)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (6)
    • ►  October (5)
    • ►  September (3)
    • ►  August (10)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (6)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (4)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2014 (55)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (16)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  June (2)
    • ►  May (9)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (8)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (3)
  • ►  2013 (11)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (4)
    • ►  September (3)
Powered by Blogger.

Labels

  • Alaska
  • Alaska & Canada photos
  • Alaska & Canada Road Trip
  • Alaska Marine Highway
  • Argentina
  • Auckland
  • Australia
  • Bedarra
  • Canada
  • Canberra
  • Chile
  • Chile/Uruguay
  • Christmas
  • Christmas in Rome
  • Colorado
  • Cordoba
  • Cycling
  • Cycling in NSW
  • Cycling in Sydney
  • Cycling in Vic
  • Czech Republic
  • DC
  • Delaware
  • Egypt
  • Europe
  • flying bicycles
  • GreatBarrierReef
  • Guest posts
  • Historic Homes & Gardens
  • Hotel Reviews Australia
  • Hotel reviews Sth America
  • Illinois
  • Jindabyne
  • Kansas
  • Kosciuszko
  • Lists
  • Lizard
  • Lost bags
  • Michigan
  • Miscellaneous posts
  • Missouri
  • New South Wales
  • New Zealand
  • Nth Island New Zealand
  • Pennsylvania
  • Perisher
  • Peru
  • Qualia
  • Queensland
  • RailTrails
  • RailTrailsCyclepaths
  • Rhode Island
  • Road Trip USA - Denver to The Great Lakes
  • Road Trip USA - Washington DC & the north-east
  • Rome
  • Salta
  • Skiing
  • Snowmass 2014
  • Snowy Mountains
  • sponsored post
  • Sth Africa
  • Sth America
  • Sth Australia
  • Sydney
  • Sydney Harbour Islands
  • Thredbo
  • Tips and advice
  • Travel Photo Tuesday
  • Travel Photo Tuesday Alaska
  • Uruguay
  • USA
  • Valparaiso
  • Victoria
  • Virginia
  • Washington State
  • Western Australia
  • Wildlife

Widget Footer Text

Pages

  • Beranda

About Me

Unknown
View my complete profile
Home » Sth Africa » The Cape of Good Hope - Cape Point, Chapman's Peak Drive and African Penguins.

The Cape of Good Hope - Cape Point, Chapman's Peak Drive and African Penguins.

Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope
We can't say we weren't warned. There were signs everywhere and at least one local told us to lock the car even if we were standing next to it. 'They will open the doors and steal your food'. We have been the victims of car break-ins twice in recent years and it was not an experience we wished to repeat.

David, however, just sometimes won't take advice - and he was hungry. He opened the boot of our car to retrieve a couple of bread rolls from his backpack. Within seconds the thief had leapt from the bushes and dashed toward us. David threw the rolls back into the boot, slammed the lid closed and retreated, leaving me trapped in the front seat with the thief staring malevolently down at me from the roof of the car parked beside us. It was as if he was daring me to be foolish enough to open the door.

The thief was one of the infamous Cape of Good Hope baboons. They are large, agile and predatory. One sniff of food and they pounce. Fortunately, once the bread roll was out of sight, he soon lost interest and I was able to make my escape. However, on our short walk across the car park we saw a half a dozen more sinister looking simians hanging around searching for victims.

Baboon, Cape of Good Hope
The Cape Point baboon sitting on the roof of the car next to us.

Marauding baboons notwithstanding, and truth be told the whole baboon episode was a lot of fun, our drive around the Cape of Good Hope was a great day's excursion from Capetown.

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point


The Cape of Good Hope has a reputation as the southern most tip of Africa. It isn't! That honour belongs to the far lesser know Cape Agulhas about 200 kms to the east, but it is the Cape of Good Hope which has gone down in history and legend. This was where Portugese sailors fought the elements to open up a direct trade route to the Far East in the 15th Century, and where the Flying Dutchman refused to turn back in the face of a terrible gale, dooming his ship to sail on forever never making port or knowing peace.

A five minute trip on the Flying Dutchman Funicular took us up to Cape Point, Lighthouse where 11,642 km from Sydney, according to the sign, we stood in wind so strong it almost knocked us over. Cape Point may not quite be the southern tip of Africa but looking out across the sheer vertical cliffs it was easy to imagine that it was.

Cape Point Lighthouse, Cape of Good Hope
Cape Point Lighthouse - as it turned out the lighthouse was built so high up that it was often shrouded in fog. Today it has been decommissioned in favour of a modern lighthouse much further down the cliff.

Cape Point sign
Home


The sheer cliffs at Cape Point. You can just make out the modern lighthouse in the centre right of the photo.

Just in case you are wondering, David finally got to eat his bread roll. Ten minutes by car from Cape Point we stopped at another car park leading to a sign marking the actual Cape of Good Hope, as opposed to Cape Point where all the facilities are. This time there were no baboons, no lighthouses and no funiculars, just a few curious ostriches by the side of the road.


The Cape of  Good Hope
The Cape of  Good Hope - the language on the right is Afrikaans

Cape of Good Hope ostrich.
A cape ostrich.

African Penguins


Of all the animals I expected to see in South Africa, penguins was about last on the list. I thought South Africa was much closer to the northern hemisphere than it is - geography was never my strong subject. David says, and he is usually right on these things, not only is South Africa firmly anchored in the southern hemisphere but Cape Town is on the same latitude as Sydney. If Sydney can have penguins then South Africa can too. We found them at Boulders Beach, Simon's Town on the way back from the Cape and less than an hour by car from the centre of Cape Town.

Unlike our shy little Fairy Penguins in Australia, African Penguins are unafraid of being out in the daylight.  A small entrance fee gave us access to a boardwalk which wound through the sand dunes above their rookery and out to the beach where dozens of them stood enjoying the sunshine.


An African Penguin at Boulders Beach
An African Penguin at Boulders Beach
African Penguin and baby
We saw lots of baby animals in South Africa. This baby penguin was the first.

African Penguins at Boulders Beach
Dozens of African Penguins at Boulders Beach

Chapman's Peak Drive



In the north-west of the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula we found Chapman's Peak Drive,  The road is about 15 kilometres long and runs along the cliff-edge creating one of the world's great coastal drives. As a scenic route it rivals the best parts of Victoria's Great Ocean Road.

If you do a round trip of the Cape from Cape Town, Chapman's Peak Drive will either be at the beginning of your route or at the end. South Africans drive on the left (mostly - the road accident statistics are frightening) so if you want to position your car for the best view save it to the end of the day and drive from south to north. We drove it from north to south and found that we were still able to pull in at the scenic viewpoints notwithstanding that they were all on the ocean side.

There is a small toll - under US$3.00, at the time of writing, - and the road is occasionally closed as a result of rock falls so it is worth checking the website to ensure it is open before you set out.

Hout Bay, Cape of Good Hope
Hout Bay, looking back from Chapman's Peak Drive


Chapman's Peak Drive
Hugging the cliff on Chapman's Peak Drive

Twelve Apostles on Chapman's Peak Drive
Three of the Twelve Apostles on the drive



The topic of next week's post will be Stellenbosch and the beautiful Cape Winelands. Keep an eye out for it next Friday/Saturday.

For last week's posts click here.

For links to the full list of  my South African road trip posts click here.



Tweet

Terimakasih anda telah membaca artikel tentang The Cape of Good Hope - Cape Point, Chapman's Peak Drive and African Penguins.. Jika ingin menduplikasi artikel ini diharapkan anda untuk mencantumkan link https://travellinginternasional.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-cape-of-good-hope-cape-point.html. Terimakasih atas perhatiannya.

Related Posts

at 19:22
Labels: Sth Africa

{ 0 comments... read them below or add one }


Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home

Popular Posts

  • Captain Cook Cruises Hop On Hop Off Sydney Harbour Explorer
    Captain Cook Cruises Hop On Hop Off Sydney Harbour Explorer
    'Get out on the harbour!' - This is the one piece of advice I always give visitors. You can't truly appreciate Sydney without se...
  • Welcome to Cordoba - we have lost your bags.
    Welcome to Cordoba - we have lost your bags.
    It is not that I have anything against the back row of aeroplanes. We have spent a lot of time in them.  Up the back, on bumpy flights, I te...
  • Cycling in Sydney: Narrabeen Lagoon Trail
    Cycling in Sydney: Narrabeen Lagoon Trail
    Location - Sydney, Australia Distance -   8.4km around the lagoon. Detour to Dee Why add 10 km for the round trip. Terrain - Shared pedestri...
  • Gunston Hall - the home of George Mason, a man who refused to sign the U.S Constitution.
    Gunston Hall - the home of George Mason, a man who refused to sign the U.S Constitution.
    No-one can deny that the Washington DC area has many great tourist attractions. If you haven't been to the city before, you probably sho...
  • Chanticleer: a pleasure garden.
    Chanticleer: a pleasure garden.
    "We   were once a private estate, and we like to keep the feeling of a private garden ... a place of beauty, pleasure, escape   ....  u...
  • Christmas in Rome - isn't this where the Pope lives?
    Christmas in Rome - isn't this where the Pope lives?
    No - we're not in Rome. Not this year at least - but we were a few years ago and it's a great place to spend Christmas. David and I ...
  • Whale Watching in Sydney with Captain Cook Cruises
    Whale Watching in Sydney with Captain Cook Cruises
    What is that saying?-  'Sometimes the best things are right in front of you.' A few months ago David and I went to Alaska. We live i...
  • Detroit's post apocalyptic wasteland. Where have all the people gone?
    Detroit's post apocalyptic wasteland. Where have all the people gone?
    The shock wasn't the burnt-out houses, the crumbling mansions or the fact that nature is reclaiming the city. House after house consumed...
  • Wintethur and the art of avoiding museums on your travels!
    Wintethur and the art of avoiding museums on your travels!
    The world is divided into two kinds of travellers. I call them the 'museum people' and the 'spending an afternoon in a museum ...
  • Colonia del Sacramento:- Uruguay in a day.
    Colonia del Sacramento:- Uruguay in a day.
    We had no real idea of what to expect of Uruguay. I was apprehensive. David wasn't - until we saw the ferry dock. It was at least a hund...
Copyright Travelling Internasional: The Cape of Good Hope - Cape Point, Chapman's Peak Drive and African Penguins.