Page 157 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - South Africa

FUR THER AFIELD  155

the north. Most of the park is
open access, with only three
points at which conserva tion
fees are payable: Boulders (see
p156), Silvermine and Cape of
Good Hope.
Not surprisingly, this part of
the park is exposed to gale-
force winds, so the vegetation
is limited to hardy milkwood
trees and fynbos. Small
antelopes live here, as do
Cape mountain zebras. Visitors
may also encounter troops of
Horse riding on Noordhoek Beach is a popular pastime chacma baboons, which can
sometimes be aggressive.
5 Noordhoek 6 Cape of Good For stunning views from
Road Map: B5. Via Chapman’s Peak Hope, Table Cape Point, take the Flying
Drive or Ou Kaapse Weg. Mountain Dutchman funicular up to the
old lighthouse, 238 m (781 ft)
The best feature of this little National Park above the crashing ocean waves.
coastal settlement is its 6-km Road Map: B5. M4 via Simon’s Town. From here, a path leads down to
(4-mile) stretch of pristine white Tel 021 780 9010. Open Main gate: the new lighthouse at Dias Point.
beach. Strong currents make Oct–Mar: 6am–6pm (spring/summer) Along the park’s east coast,
the water unsafe for swimming daily; Apr–Sep: 7am–5pm (autumn/ the tidal pools at Venus Pool,
but it is popular with surfers and winter) daily; funicular: 9am–5:30pm Bordjiesrif and Buffels Bay attract
paddleskiers. The shore is good daily. & } 0 = 7 hordes of tourists. A number of
for horse riding and long walks ∑ sanparks.org ∑ capepoint.co.za scenic walking trails along the
(tourists are advised to walk in west coast include the Thomas
groups, while along its length Strictly speaking, the Cape T Tucker ship wreck trail and
lies the wreck of the Kakapo, of Good Hope is the rocky the path to Sirkelsvlei – maps
a steamer that was beached headland that marks the most are available at the park’s
during a storm in 1900. Part of southwesterly point of the Cape entrance gate.
the Hollywood movie Ryan’s Peninsula. Originally named
Daughter (1970) was filmed here. Cape of Storms by Bartolomeu
Dias in 1488, it was given its
Environs more optimistic title by King
Another coastal hamlet, John of Portugal, who saw it
Kommetjie, adjoins a tidal as a positive omen for a new
lagoon situated inland from route to India.
Noordhoek Beach. Long Beach, Cape of Good Hope is
which stretches north as far as also the name given to the
Klein Slangkop Point, is a venue southernmost sector (formerly
for surfing championships and referred to as the Cape of Good
is very popular with board- Hope Nature Reserve) of Table
sailors. Scarborough, at the Mountain National Park, which
mouth of the Schuster’s River, encompasses the whole of
is a sought-after residential the Table Mountain chain
area. In summer, the seasonal from the southernmost point
lagoon is very popular. of the peninsula to Signal Hill in Bontebok, Cape of Good Hope
The Flying Dutchman
This legend originated in 1641, when the Dutch sea captain
Hendrick van der Decken was battling wild seas off Cape Point
while sailing home. No match against the storm, his battered
ship started sinking, but van der Decken swore that he would
round the Cape, even if it took him until Judgement Day. Since
then, many sightings of a phantom ship, its masts smashed and
sails in shreds, have been reported in bad weather. The most
significant was recorded in July 1881 in the diary of a certain
midshipman sailing on HMS Bacchante. He was crowned
The Flying Dutchman King George V of England in 1910.

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