Cape Point South Africa

Cape Point South Africa, originally uploaded by garybembridge.

A drive from Cape Town down to Cape Point, the most South Westerly point in Africa, is a real must.

The drive down to Cape Point takes you along the coast mostly and you drive past quaint towns with gorgeous beaches and incredible views. The road for most of the way is between the mountains and sea. It takes about an hour and half.

This is a full day trip and best to set off early and head straight to Cape Point as traffic to get there in busy times of the year can be really bad, and slow.

It costs around 60 rand each to get into the Cape Point park and then is about 6 miles to Cape Point itself. There are many walks and other parts to go to, like the actual Cape of Good Hope.

There are monuments with white crosses dotted at points by the edges of the cliffs that mark where ships were wrecked by the treacherous seas and rocks. The sea is very dangerous and perilous around here and many ships have been wrecked.

At Cape Point is a famous lighthouse built right high up on the cliffs in around 1860 or so. In its day the light could be seen 60 kilometres out to sea. But as it was often surrounded by clouds/ mist it was no longer used after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1909 and one built lower down.

You can walk up the steep hill or catch a funicular railway up to near the top and climb up to the old lighthouse.

The views are just staggering as it is high on cliffs and the sea is a gorgeous green. Birds sit on the cliffs and it is all just amazing. Despite all the people it feels incredibly peaceful up there.

There is also a walk called the lighthouse keepers walk that takes you along a narrow cliff top further out to huge cliffs above the sea. You need to be fit and it takes about 1.5 hours.

Cape Point is a must do. On the way back stop to see the Penguin Colony at Boulders Bay, in Simonstown (the South African Naval Base) and then in the very colonial looking and slightly hippy town of Kalk Bay.