Several times in the previous post I’ve mentioned Cape Point. Some people think that Cape Point is just another name for the Cape of Good Hope but this is not the case. Let’s look at a map to see the difference.
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| Map of Cape Peninsula |
This is an enlarged map of the very tip of the Cape Peninsula. The tip at the bottom center, accessible by road, is the Cape of Good Hope, and from which we have just left. The tip at the bottom right, without a road to it, is Cape Point. The item both north (up) and west (left) of Cape Point, at the end of a road, is the start of the funicular leading to the Cape Point, to which we have not driven.
What most people mean by Cape Point is the old lighthouse at the top of the point. This was the highest point on the Cape Peninsula and would be thought was therefore the ideal place for the lighthouse. But over time it became clear that this wasn’t so for two reasons: (1) The height of the lighthouse meant that sometimes the cloud and fog cover would obscure the lighthouse while a lower one would have been visible; and (2) ships traveling south would see the lighthouse too early and turn east too closely to the cape. On April 18, 1911, the Portuguese liner Lusitania was destroyed on the rocks of the cape, having turned too early. As a result of this accident, the new lighthouse was built some 285 feet lower and apparently works well to this day. It contains the most powerful light in South Africa and is visible for some 36 miles out to the sea.
But today we’re going to the original, old lighthouse. It has the better views and is accessible to tourists. And it has a funicular. As you can see from the photo below, the old lighthouse is considerably above the parking area for the lighthouse.
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| Cape Point Old Lighthouse |
The funicular provides an alternative to some 1,900 feet of footpath, with an elevation gain of 285 feet, traveling the distance in just 3 minutes. But there is still a significant climb from where the funicular lets you off as can be seen in these two pictures.
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| Footpath - 1 |
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| Footpath - 2 |
The funicular is called The Flying Dutchman.
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| The Flying Dutchman Funicular |
The name is geographically appropriate to the legend which tells of a boat of that name whose captain was a Dutchman named Hendrik van der Decken. He was headed home from what is now Jakarta to Holland in 1641 and as he approached the Cape, storms shredded the ship’s sails and waves flooded the deck. Even though his crew begged him to turn back, he refused and lashed himself to the wheel, swearing that he would sail around Cape Point, even if it took him until Doomsday. While he did get around the cape, he and his crew were doomed to sail forever. For more details, see Wagner’s Opera. And remember the legend when the winds are blowing around you at Cape Point, as they were when we took the funicular (watch the trees whip in this video and understand that it is the wind, not the wake of the funicular, that is causing that action).
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| Trees Blowing |
As you climb up to the lighthouse you see signs of the other major animal found at Cape Point, the baboon.
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| "Sign" of Baboons |
Baboons at Cape Point seem to be the equivalent of bears at Yosemite. They are attracted by the food that some tourists carry and you are warned not to have any. Stories I’ve heard (and believe they are from a credible source) tell of people whose backpacks are ripped off by baboons seeking food. Fortunately, we did not get an opportunity to experience this. By the time we were climbing to the lighthouse, the weather had turned quite windy,, cold, and often rainy. The baboons, intelligent creatures that they are, stayed under cover. Only tourists were out in this weather.
At the top, right next to the Old Lighthouse, is a pole with a bunch of mileage markers on it. I believe the correct name for this type of object, which we also found in several points in Antarctica, is a signpost, which seems rather prosaic. If anyone knows differently, let me know.
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| Cape Point Signpost |
The view from the top is quite expansive, as seems befitting for a place where there is a lighthouse. Much of what you see from there is, of course, ocean, as seen in these two photos.
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| View from Cape Point - 1 |
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| View from Cape Point - 2 |
Just down from the lighthouse itself are two buildings. One is the home of the lighthouse-keeper and the other is the office of the lighthouse-keeper. The photo below is the office, built around 1860.
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| Old Lighthouse Keeper's House |
I should note that while we were climbing to the lighthouse and at the lighthouse itself we had much wind and some rain – befitting a visit to the Cape of Storms. Now we leave there to go visit, separately from the tour, homes of two families.
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