The Cape Of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Cape Town. It is a rocky peninsula on the Atlantic coast of Cape Town, South Africa. There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa and it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the most southern point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 miles east-southeast. The Atlantic and Indian oceans are crossing where the warm Agulhas Current water meets the cold Benguela current and turns on itself – a point that fluctuates between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point, about one kilometre to the east of the Cape of Good Hope.

The Cape of Good Hope makes for an excellent day trip and is fun for the entire family. You can either drive here by car or take a tour bus, but there are also several hiking trails that go straight to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. After spending the morning at the Cape, you can drive to Hout Bay which is not far away. Here you can relax at one of the many Cape Town restaurants and drink some Cape Town coffee to restore your energy for more sight-seeing.

When following the western coastline of Africa from the equator, the Cape of Good Hope marks the point at which a boat begins to travel further east than to the south. The first passing of the Cape of Good Hope was in 1488 by Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias and was a milestone in the Portuguese attempts to establish direct trade relations with the Far East. It was first named “Cape of Storms” before changing the name to “Cape of Good Hope.”

As one of the great Capes of the South Atlantic Ocean, Cape of Good Hope has been of particular importance to sailors for many years and is widely referred to simply as “The Cape”. This is a waypoint on the route followed by ships going to the Far East and Australia, and a waypoint for several yacht races.

Cape Town is about 50 kilometres north of the Cape. The peninsula forms the western boundary of False Bay. Geologically, the rocks found on the two ends, and indeed in much of the peninsula consist of the same type of sandstone as Table Mountain. Both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point offer spectacular scenery, the entire southern portion of the Cape Peninsula National Park is a wild, rugged, scenic location and is generally unspoiled.

The Cape of Good Hope should be visited by every tourist coming to Cape Town. It is one of the top Cape Town tourist attractions and is always well visited. Be sure to take along warm clothing as the winds are always very wild at the Cape. Also do not feed the baboons which are living in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, as they can become very aggressive.

Bloggers who are looking for more info about the sphere of traffic to website, make sure to go to the page which was mentioned right in this paragraph.

Leave a Reply

Search Greener Tips
Green Products
Tell A Friend