by Travel Writer Sasha Arms 

The Cape’s Southern Peninsular gets wilder and more rugged the further you go. Reaching Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope tends to be a necessary expedition for many-a-visitor to Cape Town, and for feeling close to nature by a wild sea and vast vegetation, it’s certainly the place to go.

There’s no public transport that goes as far as Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, so your best option is to hire a car or book yourself a place on an organised tour. Located in the southernmost section of the Table Mountain National Park, you’ll realise just how remote and out of the way it is when you go – it’s no surprise there isn’t any public transport.

You’re finally close-by when you reach the gates allowing you access to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, although it’ll still take you up to twenty minutes to drive from the gates to either of the spots. But once you’ve paid your entrance fee and are inside, enjoy the scenery and the feeling that you’re a million miles away from urban civilisation. It may look marginally barren and weather-beaten, but in fact it has abundant flora and fauna, and it means you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you spot ostriches or other birds darting across the landscape. Keep your eye out for the rarely seen Cape mountain zebras too.

You’ll come across the Buffelsfontein Visitors Centre about 8km from the entrance gates, and it’s worth stopping at for excellent quality displays about the nature surrounding you.

Carry on along the road and you’ll find yourself in the car park from which you’ll make your way up to Cape Point. You’ll most likely find a lot of baboons hanging around here, both on the ground and on the parked cars. That should serve as your reminder not to leave any food wrappers or anything that looks like food on display in the car, assuming you don’t want to come back to find them clambering all over your vehicle. Even more importantly, it’s best not to carry any food with you, or you will be confronted by the very demanding creatures.

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Cape Point

You have two options to get up to Cape Point’s pinnacle – either walking up a steep, well-trodden pathway, where you can stop to take in the magnificent views along the way, or take the Flying Dutchman funicular. A new and improved funicular was recently unveiled, and allows visitors a 360 degree view as they ascend and has improved environmentally friendly features, such as the solar batteries it’s powered by.

Even if you take the funicular you’ll still need to walk a little bit further to get up to where the lighthouse sits, but it’s absolutely worth going that little bit further. People mistakenly believe that this is the southernmost point of Africa, but this accolade actually belongs to Cape Agulhas 150km to the east. Regardless of this technicality, you absolutely feel you’re at the end of Africa at Cape Point. The waves crash against the cliff-face below you, the wind is stronger than you imagined it could be and the sea stretches out in front of you apparently never ending. You won’t be surprised that some people call it the end of the world. Just to reiterate how far away from home you are, there’s a signpost by the lighthouse giving the direction and distance to some world cities.

Cape of Good Hope

The drive from the Cape Point car park down to the Cape of Good Hope is not far. When you get there, you’ll find that it’s just as windy, if not more so. Blowing away the cobwebs takes on a whole new meaning. The Cape of Good Hope is an important maritime landmark – it’s the point at which ships no longer have to travel south to get around the continent. The car park here is right by the sea, and while it’s transfixing to watch the waves crash against the rocks, it’s normally too windy for visitors to be able to stay there for very long. There’s usually an orderly queue that visitors make to have their photo taken next to the infamous ‘Cape of Good Hope’ sign, but it has to be done.

If the wind isn’t too much for you, take the trail from the Cape of Good Hope car park down to the Cape of Good Hope beach. It takes about an hour and a half to do the round trip, but once you’re down there you get a stunning view of Cape Point’s lighthouse.

Staying over

It’s not that common, but there are a couple of options if you want to stay on the reserve overnight. South African National Parks has a two-day, one night trip which gives you a stringent hiking itinerary and overnight accommodation in a cottage. Staying for a bit longer on the reserve does have its benefits – in particular the excellent walks that visitors can do. Kanonkop Walk goes from the Buffelsfontein Visitors Centre to an old signal canyon and has brilliant views of False Bay, while taking a walk down to Olifantbos on the west side takes you right up to a couple of shipwrecks – a South African coaster from 1965 and a US ship that sunk in the 1940s. Head over to Rooikrans and you might be lucky enough to spot whales.

The sea is far too rough and dangerous for swimming along this stretch of the coast, although there are a couple of tidal pools suitable for swimmers. The tidal pools at Bordjiesdrif and Platboom Beach are both said to be safe.

If you’re looking for something else to do while in the area, go to the Cape Point Ostrich Farm which is just outside the park’s entrance gates. You can have a look at the ostriches and buy some of the ostrich souvenirs you’ll see all over South Africa.

Sasha Arms is a freelance writer, editor and web communications strategist. She has travelled extensively, particularly across South Africa, Europe and the Americas and has contributed to a number of notable publications, including the Lonely Planet Bluelist. Read more about Sasha Arms

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