The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula,
South Africa. There is a misconception that the Cape of
Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point
between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas,
about 150 kilometres to the east-southeast. The currents of the two oceans meet at the
point where the warm-water Agulhas current meets the cold water Benguela current and
turns back on itself—a point that fluctuates between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point.
When following the western side of the African coastline from the equator, however, the Cape
of Good Hope marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward.
Thus, the first modern rounding of the cape in 1488 by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu
Dias was a milestone in the attempts by the Portuguese to establish direct trade relations
with the Far East. Dias called the cape Cabo das Tormentas, which was the original name
of the "Cape of Good Hope". As one of the great capes of the South Atlantic
Ocean, the Cape of Good Hope has long been of special significance to sailors, many of
whom refer to it simply as "the Cape." It is a waypoint on the clipper route followed
by clipper ships to the Far East and Australia, and still followed by several offshore yacht
races. The term Cape of Good Hope is also used in
three other ways: It is a section of the Table Mountain National
Park, within which the cape of the same name, as well as Cape Point, falls. Prior to its
incorporation into the national park this section constituted the Cape Point Nature
Reserve; It was the name of the early Cape Colony established
in 1652, in the vicinity of the Cape Peninsula. Just prior to the formation of the Union of
South Africa, the term referred to the entire region that in 1910 was to become the Cape
of Good Hope Province.
History
The first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias 12 March
in 1488, who named it the "Cape of Storms". It was later renamed by John II of Portugal
as "Cape of Good Hope" because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea
route to India and the East. The land around the cape was home to the Khoikhoi
people when the Dutch first settled there in 1652. The Khoikhoi had arrived in these
parts about fifteen hundred years before. They were called Hottentots by the Dutch,
a term that has now come to be regarded as pejorative.
Dutch colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck established a resupply camp for the Dutch
East India Company some 50 km north of the cape in Table Bay on 6 April 1652 and this
eventually developed into Cape Town. Supplies of fresh food were vital on the long journey
around Africa and Cape Town became known as "The Tavern of the Seas".
On 31 December 1687 a community of Huguenots-which are Protestants arrived at the Cape of Good
Hope from the Netherlands. They had escaped to the Netherlands from France in order to
flee religious persecution there; examples of these are Pierre Joubert who came from
La Motte-d'Aigues for religious reasons. The Dutch East India Company needed skilled farmers
at the Cape of Good Hope and the Dutch Government saw opportunities for the Huguenots at the
Cape and sent them over. The colony gradually grew over the next 150 years or so until it
stretched for hundreds of kilometres to the north and north-east.
When the Dutch Republic, during the Napoleonic Wars, was occupied by the French in 1795,
henceforth becoming their vassal and enemy of the British, the United Kingdom invaded
and occupied the Cape Colony that same year; relinquished control of the territory in 1803;
only to return and reoccupy the Cape on 19 January 1806. The territory was ceded to the
British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 and was thereafter administered as the Cape
Colony. It remained a British colony until being incorporated into the independent Union
of South Africa in 1910. The Portuguese government erected two navigational
beacons, Dias Cross and Gama Cross, to commemorate Vasco da Gama and Bartolomeu Dias as explorers
who as mentioned were the first explorers to reach the cape. When lined up, the crosses
point to Whittle Rock, a large, permanently submerged shipping hazard in False Bay. Two
other beacons in Simon's Town provide the intersection.
Geography
The Cape of Good Hope is at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula, about 2.3 kilometres
west and a little south of Cape Point on the south-east corner. Cape Town is about 50 kilometres
to the north of the Cape, in Table Bay at the north end of the peninsula. The peninsula
forms the western boundary of False Bay. Geologically, the rocks found at the two capes, and indeed
over much of the peninsula, are part of the Table Mountain Group, and are formed of the
same type of sandstones as Table Mountain itself. Both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape
Point offer spectacular scenery; the whole of the southernmost portion of the Cape Peninsula
is a wild, rugged, scenic and generally unspoiled national park.
The term the Cape has also been used in a wider sense, to indicate the area of the European
colony centred on Cape Town, and the later South African province. Since 1994, it has
been broken up into three smaller provinces: the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern
Cape, plus parts of the province were absorbed into the North West.
Fauna
With its diverse habitat, ranging from rocky mountain tops to beaches and open sea, the
Cape of Good Hope is home to at least 250 species of birds including one of the two
mainland colonies of African penguins. "Bush birds" tend to be rather scarce because
of the coarse, scrubby nature of fynbos vegetation. When flowering, however, proteas and ericas
attract sunbirds, sugarbirds, and other species in search of nectar. For most of the year,
there are more small birds in coastal thicket than in fynbos.
The Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park is home to several species of
antelope. Bontebok and eland are easily seen, and red hartebeest can be seen in the grazing
lawns in Smitswinkel Flats. Grey rhebok are less commonly seen and are scarce, but may
be observed along the beach hills at Olifantsbos. Most visitors are unlikely to ever see either
Cape grysbok or klipspringer. The Cape of Good Hope section is home to four
Cape mountain zebra. They might be seen by the attentive or lucky visitor, usually in
Smitswinkel Flats. There are a wealth of small animals such as
lizards, snakes, tortoises and insects. Small mammals include rock hyrax, four-striped grass
mouse, water mongoose, Cape clawless otter and fallow deer.
The area offers excellent vantage points for whale watching. The southern right whale is
the species most likely to be seen in False Bay between June and November. Other species
are the humpback whale and Bryde's whale. Seals, dusky dolphins and killer whales have
also been seen. The strategic position of the Cape of Good
Hope between two major ocean currents, ensures a rich diversity of marine life. There is
a difference between the sea life west of Cape Point and that to the east due to the
markedly differing sea temperatures. The South African Marine Living Resources
Act is strictly enforced throughout the Table Mountain National Park, and especially in
marine protected areas. Disturbance or removal of any marine organisms is strictly prohibited
between Schusters Bay and Hoek van Bobbejaan, but is allowed in other areas during season
and with relevant permits. Chacma baboons
Chacma baboons are the mammal most intimately associated with the Cape of Good Hope. Baboons
inside the Cape of Good Hope section of the park are a major tourist attraction. There
are 11 troops consisting of about 375 individuals throughout the entire Cape Peninsula. Six
of these 11 troops either live entirely within the Cape of Good Hope section of the park,
or use the section as part of their range. The Cape Point, Kanonkop, Klein Olifantsbos,
and Buffels Bay troops live entirely inside the Cape of Good Hope section of the Park.
The Groot Olifantsbos and Plateau Road troops range into the park.
Chacma baboons are widely distributed across southern Africa and are classified as ″least
concern" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. However, the South African Parks
Department states in its publication Mountains in the Sea that the baboon population on the
Cape is "critically endangered." This is due to habitat loss, genetic isolation, and conflicts
with humans. Cape baboons have been eliminated from the majority of their range across the
Cape Peninsula, and the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park provides
a sanctuary for the troops that live within its boundaries. It provides relative safety
from nearby towns, where people have killed many baboons after the baboons raid their
houses looking for food. Baboons are also frequently injured or killed outside of the
park by cars and by electrocution on power lines. Inside the park, some management policies
such as allowing barbecues and picnics in the baboon home ranges cause detriment to
the troops, as they become embroiled in conflicts with guests to the park.
Flora
The Cape of Good Hope is an integral part of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, the smallest
but richest of the world's six floral kingdoms. This comprises a treasure trove of 1100 species
of indigenous plants, of which a number are endemic. The main type of fynbos vegetation
at the Cape of Good Hope is Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, an endangered vegetation type that
is endemic to the Cape Peninsula. Coastal Hangklip Sand Fynbos grows on low-lying alkaline
sands and, right by the sea, small patches of Cape Flats Dune Strandveld can be found.
Characteristic fynbos plants include proteas, ericas, and restios. Some of the most striking
and well-known members belong to the Proteacae family, of which up to 24 species occur. These
include king protea, sugarbush, tree pincushion and golden cone bush.
Many popular horticultural plants like pelargoniums, freesias, daisies, lilies and irises also
have their origins in fynbos. Legends
The Cape of Good Hope is the legendary home of The Flying Dutchman. Crewed by tormented
and damned ghostly sailors, it is doomed forever to beat its way through the adjacent waters
without ever succeeding in rounding the headland. Adamastor is a Greek-type mythological character
invented by the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões in his epic poem Os Lusíadas, as a symbol
of the forces of nature Portuguese navigators had to overcome during their discoveries and
more specifically of the dangers Portuguese sailors faced when trying to round the Cape
of Storms. See also
Cape Horn, its South American counterpart Western Cape
History of Cape Colony Simon's Town
References
External links List of birds of the Cape of Good Hope Nature
Reserve, with paragraph describing each species Cape of Good Hope, Panoramic view
Cape of Good Hope is a map by John Arrowsmith in 1842