Cape Point: Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope: click to enlarge ...

When Bartholomew Dias visited the Point on his return from the Eastern Cape in 1488, he ran into a typically blustery Cape Town day. The south-easter was howling. Having failed in his bid to reach India, Cape Point was to Dias the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

"Cabo das Tormentas!" he swore, surveying the roiling sea beneath the towering cliffs. Nevertheless, a consummate sailor, businessman and politician to boot, he landed and erected a padrao at Buffelsfontein proclaiming the land to be forever a Portuguese convenience store on the corner of Africa.

It was this claim to a new corner store with access to low-cost wholesalers in India and grey goods further afield that made Dias's boss, King John II, change the name to Cabo da Boa Esperança, a far more convoluted and difficult-to-pronounce name, now simply and misleadingly translated to Cape of Good Hope.

King John II, like most CEOs and presidents, was out of touch with reality. If he'd followed any of our sporting teams, watched our politicians at play, invested in our economy, bought local property, lived here or taken a bus tour he'd have stuck with Dias's original name which, contrary to popular belief and in keeping with Occam's Razor, means Cape of Torment — the Cape of Storms thing was a National Party cover up.

Ultimately though, Dias was proved correct and, appropriately for Easter, the Cape of Good Hope proved his final torment and he is today only resurrected in blog entries such as this one. Wikipedia tells us that, in 1500, "...Dias was a captain in Pedro Alvarez Cabral's fleet voyaging to India around the Cape. Near the end of May, the fleet encountered a huge storm off the Cape, and four ships, including Dias', were lost with all hands."

Here's a picture taken from the quarterdeck of the NRP Alvares Cabral. It's a frigate and that gun at left can rattle off 4,500 200 mm rounds a minute. You wouldn't think such ships would turn turtle in a hurry or a Cape storm. For that matter, I didn't know they had such ships back then.

For Dias though, Cape Town was indeed the end of the road. Not that our occasionally foul weather is without its rewards, of course ...


Cape of Good Hope: click to enlarge ...

Many visitors to the Cape of Good Hope never reach it. It appears something of a tradition among tourist groups that a race to be the first photographed behind the sign marking the most south-western point of the African continent suffices.

Who the hell wants to climb stairs to a view site anyway?

Some do and the reward is ... erm, rewarding. However, there are more spectacular views even the most enthusiastic explorers are unlikely to see — due mainly to the vagaries of the sea. On entering the dark cove separating Cape of Good Hope from Cape Maclear, the stench of wet cormorant guano covering beds of kelp is likely to deter all but the foolhardy — an adjective I've yet to eschew or deny. The sheer, dank walls dripping with moss and plant life rise more than 200 feet on three sides — surrounding and intimidating you as your eyes clear and make out the caves leading into the far walls. Two enter at the corners at ground level and another about twenty feet up.

This place is awesome. Nobody comes here and, given the tidal nature of its entrance, for good reason. Trapped, there is no way out and drowning is certain. At the narrow side entrance allowed by an extremely low tide, the massive cavern undermining Cape Maclear becomes evident. It roars, booms and bores into the hillside along a narrow wall of rock into which, appropriately, is worn a map of Africa inverted.

I guess Dias, seeing it, knew he had arrived.

The Cape of Good Hope has its history and its geographic significance. The weather can be everything it's purported to be and the view of Cape Point, a short walk away, is particularly stunning before dawn.

But, if you enjoy spending your time with cormorants, it's a place without peer.

Many of the sites visited in this blog are not suited to walking without a guide or local. They are dangerous and should be avoided. However, visiting Cape Point without being aware of the extent of its natural beauty seems pretty pointless to me. And somebody has to do this stuff ...