The Cape of Good Hope is located on the Cape Peninsula south of one of the largest cities in South Africa. Once upon a time it had the name Cape of Storms and this is quite justified. After all, strong currents, storms, winds and fog are inseparable companions of this place, and icebergs often float here; all this at different times led to the death of a dozen ships.
Why was it called the Cape of Good Hope?
The navigator who discovered the Cape of Good Hope in Africa was named Bartolomeu Dias; on the orders of the Portuguese king, he went in search of a sea route to India around Africa. Another storm confused the explorer's plans, and he lost his bearings, so, trusting his intuition, he went north, where he met the cape, giving it the name of the cause of his disaster. The ship was too damaged and the crew mutinied, so even after seeing the beginning of the journey to the Indian Ocean, Dias was forced to turn back. In 1497, Vasco da Gama was sent to pave the way to the Indian coast, and since his journey was fueled not only by responsibility, but also by hope, the cape was immediately renamed the Cape of Good Hope.
Holidays on the Cape
At the moment, the Cape of Good Hope is one of the most famous national parks in the world. This is the place where the Atlantic and Indian oceans connect, so this is the point on the globe where you can visit two different oceans at the same time.
The Cape of Good Hope is located in the south of the Cape Peninsula, near Cape Point, at the foot of which it originates, where the water is much warmer than other water basins in the area. The water of the bay is heated by warm currents of the Indian Ocean. Therefore, the beaches near the cape are always filled with people.
In addition, not far from the cape there is the National Park, which captivates with its flora and fauna; many amazing animals live there - from monkeys to penguins.
How to get there?
For a very long time, the Cape of Good Hope was considered the southern point of Africa, so finding it on the world map is quite simple, because this information is captured in the form of exact coordinates on a sign installed on the site in front of the cape. There is a city near the Cape of Good Hope
The Portuguese sea traveler Bartolomeu Dias first came across the Cape of Good Hope. This significant event took place in 1488. He named it the Cape of Storms. But the Portuguese King João II did not like this name, and he ordered it to be renamed the Cape of Good Hope, hoping that the name would somehow appease the depths of the sea and the path to India would be open, which later happened.
The Cape of Good Hope is the symbol of South Africa. The cape is located on the Cape Peninsula. From Cape Town it takes 4 hours to get here. Time will fly by: beautiful savannas, walking ostriches, baboons, antelopes - all this looks extremely beautiful and organic.
Further the path goes through the reserve with the same name. The surface of the earth here is covered with dense low vegetation, so it is almost impossible to move on foot, only by car. The plants growing in the reserve cannot be seen anywhere else on the planet.
The fauna is also unique. There are monkeys, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, lions, and other predators here. And most importantly, along with these representatives of hot Africa, penguins roam here. You definitely won't see anything like this anywhere.
At the Cape of Good Hope you can sunbathe and swim on the beaches. Swimming season from September to May.
The main attraction of Good Hope is, of course, the 240-meter-high lighthouse, built in 1860. Today the lighthouse does not work, because it is often shrouded in clouds and ships still cannot see it. But it has an observation deck. There is a cable car leading to it, or you can walk. There is also a restaurant and a souvenir shop here. Climbing onto the platform, you get the feeling of flying over two oceans. Here is the meeting place of the Indian Ocean with the Atlantic, in honor of which there is even a special aquarium in Cape Town. On one side the cape is washed by one thing, on the other by another. If you look closely, you will notice that the oceans are slightly different in color.
From the Cape of Good Hope you can take a boat to Seal Island. On the same small island, only four square meters. km, there was once a prison, and now a museum telling about the historical events of the country.
Cape of Good Hope on the map of Cape Town
The Portuguese sea traveler Bartolomeu Dias first came across the Cape of Good Hope. This significant event took place in 1488. He named it the Cape of Storms. But the Portuguese King João II did not like this name, and he ordered it to be renamed the Cape of Good Hope, hoping that the name would somehow appease the depths of the sea and the path to India would be open, so far..." />
To find the Cape of Good Hope, sailors set out on their journey more than once, suffered failures and wrecks, but did not stop searching - the road to India must be open. It was the rocky cape, which is the most extreme point in southwest Africa, the place where the waters of two oceans collide with each other, forming a seething white stripe crashing against the rocks, that opened the way for them to Asia.
The Cape of Good Hope is located in Africa and is the southernmost part of the Cape Peninsula, from where it turns north and after forty-five meters abuts Cape Point, at the foot of which, on the opposite side, begins False Bay, whose waters are heated by the warm current of the Indian Ocean .
The temperature of both air and water in the east of the peninsula is much warmer than on its western side, where the Benguela Current flows from Antarctica. True, the winds blow stronger here and tourists are rarely allowed to calmly soak up the warm rays.
Despite the fact that the Cape of Good Hope has long been considered the most extreme point of Africa, it is actually Cape Agulhas (on the map it is located more than one hundred and fifty kilometers in a southeast direction).
This cape is notable for the fact that from here the African coast turns east for the first time and opens a passage between the Atlantic and Indian oceans (you can accurately calculate where the Cape of Good Hope is on the map using the following coordinates: 34° 21′ 32.88″ S. , 18° 28′ 21.06″ E).
History of discovery
The Cape of Good Hope was discovered at the end of the 15th century. Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias, to whom the king set a specific task. It was necessary to find out whether it was possible to go around Africa from the south and get to India. For his country, located in western Europe, it was extremely costly to organize land expeditions to Asia.
The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope happened by accident, and unexpected help was provided by a terrifying storm that mercilessly tossed the Portuguese ships for several days: when the ocean calmed down, it turned out that Dias had no idea where the bad weather had taken him. He randomly went north and after some time found himself off the coast of Africa, which turned in an easterly direction.
True, he did not sail further: provisions were running out, the ships were in poor condition, and the crew rebelled. They decided to return home, and on the way he noticed a cape, rounding which he saw that the coast of Africa stretches north, home.
It is interesting that initially, having seen the ocean waves beating against high rocks, he decided to call this piece of land the Cape of Storms.
But the king of Portugal did not like the ominous name, and he gave it a more optimistic name - the Cape of Good Hope, hoping that the road to India had really been discovered. His hope was justified: a few years later, Vasco da Gama, having passed the Cape of Good Hope, sailed to India.
Cape lighthouses
Calling the rocky area of land protruding into the sea Cape Storms, Dias gave it a fairly accurate name: strong currents, winds, storms, fogs, and sometimes icebergs floating into this area led to the wreck of a huge number of ships. An important role in this was played by the fact that the rocks along the coast were not only similar to each other, but also often shrouded in fog.
This often threw sailors sailing from India off course: they turned north ahead of time and ended up in False Bay.
If they were lucky, the ships would hit the sandy shore, but mostly they would just crash on the rocks. This bay is notable for the fact that it is not always possible to get out of it on a sailing ship - despite the fact that it is very windy here, you can easily spend almost six months here waiting for a suitable air flow.
Despite all these circumstances, the authorities on the cape built a lighthouse only in the middle of the 19th century. - and then, after during one of the inspections, inspectors noticed icebergs floating towards the coast. Ice blocks off the coast of Africa shocked them so much that the decision to build a lighthouse and observation post here was made almost immediately. It was built on the nearby Cape Point Mountain, which offers a magnificent view of the Cape of Good Hope.
Lighthouse No. 1
Construction of the first lighthouse was completed in 1860. It was located at an altitude of 270 m - and it could be seen from a distance of 80 km. There was one “but”: it was designed in Britain, so the British, unfamiliar with the climatic features of southern Africa, did not take into account one detail: the top of the mountain on which it was decided to install the structure was often shrouded in clouds at night, making the lighthouse absolutely useless. At the same time, it “served” for about half a century, until journalists paid attention to the problem.
The first case that attracted widespread public attention was the wreck in 1900 of the newest steamship Cockapoo, which was heading from Britain to New Zealand. Deceived by the lighthouse and low clouds, the captain gave the wrong command, as a result of which a high tidal wave threw the ship onto the coast. The authorities managed to hush up this story, accusing the captain of negligence.
But the crash that happened eleven years later could not be silenced: the huge Portuguese liner Lusitania hit a reef a few kilometers from a working, but completely obscured by clouds, lighthouse. It was possible to save the passengers (there were almost eight hundred people on the ship) only because the ship sat very firmly on the reef, which gave time to launch all the rescue boats.
The lighthouse keeper, having received the distress signal, came down with a lit lantern, orienting the liner's crew and allowing almost all the boats to land safely on the shore, except one (it capsized and four of its passengers died). The decision to build a second lighthouse was made, but this one was closed and now serves as a museum, with magnificent views from the observation deck.
Lighthouse No. 2
Despite the fact that the new lighthouse is located lower, at an altitude of 88 meters, and can be seen at a shorter distance, 40 km, its benefits were much greater - shipwrecks in this area were almost reduced to zero. At the end of the 20th century, an electric cable was laid to the lighthouse, restaurants were erected, a funicular was installed leading from the parking lot to the top of the mountain adjacent to the cape, Cane Point, and after conducting an appropriate advertising campaign, they gave impetus to the development of a successful tourism business.
National Park
The Cape of Good Hope is separated from the second most populous city in South Africa, Cape Town, by almost seventy kilometers, and therefore you can get from the capital of the Western Cape Province, armed with a map, by car on a very good road in four hours.
The road will not seem boring, since the path here lies through the Table Mountain National Park, whose area exceeds 7 thousand hectares, and it is distinguished by extremely lush vegetation.
The fauna of the reserve is also interesting: next to monkeys, ostriches, antelopes and cheetahs, spectacled penguins and fur seals feel great here, which not only sailed here from Antarctica, but also managed to adapt to the conditions of local life.
Spectacled penguins
Penguins live on the west coast called Boulders Beach. It was no coincidence that they chose this place of residence: the cold waters of the Bengal Current help the birds endure the heat - they spend most of their time in the water. And only during nesting, in winter, when the air temperature becomes more or less optimal, do they stay on land for a long time. Interestingly, they hatch their eggs in burrows that they dig in the decomposed remains of bird droppings, which helps protect the eggs from overheating.
They are enabled to maintain optimal body temperature by pink-colored markings located above the eyes and acting as a kind of air conditioner: when birds become very hot, heated blood begins to flow faster to the markings, where, thanks to the thin skin, it quickly cools.
Seal Island
Sometimes fur seals rest near the cape, having swam here from their rookery, located on a small island, immediately behind the lighthouse, in False Bay (about 75 thousand animals live on it). Such a huge colony could not help but attract the attention of white sharks constantly swimming into this bay.
Therefore, from May to September, the island of fur seals is literally surrounded by predators who patiently wait for prey, and as soon as they see an opportunity, they jump out and grab the seal with their teeth and go to the bottom. Interestingly, False Bay is the only place in the world where sharks jump completely out of the water while hunting.
The Cape of Storms cannot be found even on the most detailed modern geographical maps. This name no longer exists. The cape in question is now called the Cape of Good Hope. As you know, it is located on the southern tip of Africa and is a protrusion of a rocky peninsula jutting into the sea, at the base of which is the large African port of Cape Town.
The Cape of Good Hope was discovered in 1488 by the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias. Heading in search of new lands, the Portuguese tried several times to go around this cape, but they were hampered by a strong storm. With great difficulty the ships passed this disastrous place. On the way back to their native shores, the Portuguese, in memory of the storm they experienced, named this harsh land the Cape of Storms.
After some time, the Portuguese king Juan II renamed it the Cape of Good Hope, since this discovery gave the Portuguese hope of reaching India by sea. If the name had not been changed, it would have perfectly characterized one of the most dangerous areas for navigation on the globe.
Storms off this cape are not a random occurrence. The west coast of South Africa is exposed to strong winds from the Atlantic Ocean, often developing into long and severe storms. In this area, the warm Needle Current meets the cold Cross Current, as a result of which fogs are formed here, as well as off the island of Newfoundland, which hide dangerous fogs in their shroud. seafaring rocky shores of the southern tip of Africa.
From the time of Dias until the advent of steam ships, the area of the Cape of Good Hope was considered extremely dangerous for navigation. For almost five centuries, the majestic rocky Cape of Storms has repeatedly been a silent witness to terrible human tragedies at sea. It is difficult to imagine how many human lives and ships were lost here during this time. Other capes of the southern tip of Africa are no less dangerous - Cape Agulhas, Cape Quoin, Cape Danger. In the days of the sailing fleet, almost every year a large ship perished in the area of one of these three capes, and with it dozens and hundreds of people.
The last major accident at Cape Cowin occurred on November 9, 1946, when the English cargo steamer City of Lincoln ran aground on rocks. The sunken cargo of this ship was estimated at one and a half million pounds sterling. The ship itself was saved with great difficulty.
One of the most dramatic shipwrecks in these waters was the sinking of the English steam-sailing frigate Birkenhead in 1852. She was one of the first English steamships, built in 1845 from iron, which was then converted into a military transport.
On February 26, 1852, with about five hundred soldiers on board, the Birkenhead made its next voyage to India. Near Cape Danger, the ship hit an unknown underwater reef. The captain hastily ordered to reverse, and when the ship left the reef, a huge hole was exposed. Water began to quickly fill the ship, which did not have watertight bulkheads. Suddenly it broke into two parts and began to sink quickly. In the three boats that managed to be lowered, only a few women and children were saved. The death of the steamer cost the lives of four hundred and fifty soldiers of the selected colonial troops of England. Along with the ship, cargo worth seven hundred and fifteen thousand pounds sterling was also lost...
It is generally accepted that the greatest danger to navigation is posed by rocky capes and cliffs protruding far into the sea. It is here that ships lost in the fog most often end up on their journey. A strong ocean surf or swell quickly decides the fate of a ship caught in the tenacious embrace of underwater reefs. But oddly enough, in the area of the Cape of Good Hope, the greatest danger to ships has long been posed not by numerous capes dotted with underwater reefs, but by Table Bay, open to northwestern storms. It can rightfully be called a ship graveyard! Ship-lifting specialists from the Union of South Africa were able to establish that at the bottom of the bay, to date, not counting countless wrecks, more than three hundred wooden hulls of sailing ships have been preserved.
The remains of shipwrecks... They rest at the bottom of this bay, and each has its own story, full of drama, a story that invariably goes back to a certain day, month and year.
Thus, in 1648, during a storm, the Dutch frigate Harlem was torn from its anchors and perished off the coast. Along with the ship, its entire crew and a cargo of gold worth eight hundred and seventy-five million francs sank. Now the hull of the frigate is crushed by the heavy bulk of the English steamer Taivengen, which sank in the same place at the end of the last century.
There were often days when several ships were lost at the same time in Table Bay. For example, in 1716, during a strong storm, forty-two Dutch frigates, which had previously found refuge here, sank in the bay. Together with the Dutch frigates, valuable cargo was lost, estimated at a huge amount - almost forty billion francs.
In 1799, a disaster similar to the previous one occurred in Table Bay. On November 4, the English sixty-four-gun battleship Scepter and the fifty-gun ship Jupiter, the Danish sixty-four-gun battleship Oldenburg and twelve merchant ships from different countries were anchored here.
The next day, in the morning, a strong northwest wind suddenly blew, which soon turned into a storm. The anchor ropes burst with a crash, and the ships began to drift toward the shore. The Scepter, Oldenburg and eight merchant ships were lost on the reefs. Only on the first of the four hundred and ninety-one crew members, almost four hundred sailors found their death among the coastal breakers. "Jupiter" managed to escape - it jumped onto a sandbank in time under storm sails.
Speaking about the cost of the cargo lost along with the ships in Table Bay, we can say that, according to English archives, this cargo is estimated at over thirty million pounds sterling. However, no successful attempts have yet been made to raise lost gold from the bottom of the bay.
In 1488, the traveler B. Dias discovered a cape previously unknown to geographers and named it Cape of Storms, or in Portuguese Cabo das Tormentas. Somewhat later, João II decided to rename it the Cape of Good Hope, which was connected with the cherished dream of the Portuguese ruler to reach distant India from this starting point. As the locals say, two giant oceans “meet” at this cape – the Atlantic and Indian. In the second half of the 19th century, it was decided to build a lighthouse on the cape, which would warn sailors at night about the proximity of land. This historical monument can still be seen now; it is one of the few attractions of the territory we are describing that attract hundreds of tourists from all over the globe. You can get to the lighthouse on foot or by cable car, the ticket for which is relatively inexpensive. If, after everything described above, a picture appears in your imagination that shows a deserted area with a lonely towering lighthouse, then you are mistaken. On the territory of the Cape of Good Hope, which, by the way, is 7,750 hectares, there are many different trees, shrubs and other “representatives” of fauna. There is even official data that this territory contains the largest number of plants in the world per hectare of land. But that's not all. While at the Cape of Good Hope, you can observe the natural way of life of baboons, monkeys, ostriches, leopards, wildebeest, cheetahs and other animals. Along the seashore there are hundreds of penguin nests, which are so accustomed to the attention of overseas guests that they practically do not pay any attention to their presence. After the walk, if you wish, you can get acquainted with traditional cuisine in a nearby restaurant, as well as visit a souvenir shop. This historical reserve is open daily.
