Written by Russell Hepworth on 25 July 2011
Following my post last week about the birth of a Mountain Zebra in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, at Cape Point, we decided to take a family day out and see if we could find it. Despite knowing the general area that the herd was located we had no luck, however, it was a wildlife feast.
A baboon encounter well before arriving at Cape Point
After a recent trip to Durban my daughter (who is two and a half) is mad about monkeys and so she was delighted that a troop was taking life easy on the road to Cape Point, just after Millers Point, [approximately 5km south of Boulders Beach].
Baboons are technically not monkeys, and nor are they apes; to my daughter they are hilarious. The baboons on the Cape Point Peninsula are actually called Chacma baboons. There are several troops between Table Mountain and Cape Point, with most of them monitored continually by baboon monitors. When driving along the Cape Point Peninsula be aware of the monitors as part of their job is to ensure the baboons cross roads safely. They are also a great way of knowing that baboons are in the area.
Now, baboons are getting a bad reputation of late, with many photos and videos of them behaving badly, particularly around cars. However, I have to say that this extended troop were about as interested in us as they were in nuclear physics (having said that, who knows what advanced mathematics they are contemplating while they pick succulent shoots out of the ground). There is an ongoing debate in the Cape Point Peninsula area regarding having baboons as neighbours with some people advocating removing them. Apart from the potentially devastating effect this could have on the fynbos what a terrible loss they would be from this area of such natural beauty. We could have watched them all day. The problem isn’t the baboons but the ignorance and arrogance of the people who are around them.
They left us well alone, actually ignored us. We were respectful of them being wild animals and did nothing to try and interact with them, staying at a good distance and not displaying anything that would suggest we had food. I wonder how many incidents of ‘baboon terrorism’ are as a result of tourists trying to get better photographs by baiting the animals with food?
Despite being royally entertained by particularly the juveniles we had other places to go and so left the baboons to their foraging and went on to Cape Point.
Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Cape Point
I have to say that we didn’t pick the best day of the month for our trip. After seemingly endless warm sunny days with little or no wind, we managed to go with a howling southeaster blowing of the ocean. At times it was difficult to open and close the car door- in certain exposed areas it was difficult to stand up, and there was a constant dampness in the air, probably as a result of the spray from the sea.
We first headed off towards the west coast as we have seen zebras in that area before- not today. Whilst our primary targets were not to be seen we were rewarded with a herd of bontebok, sheltering in a rocky koppe. (Sorry, the photos were not very good, they were a long way away and I was having difficulty holding the camera steady in the high winds.)
Bontebok are easy to identify, though like many other distinctive African animals, are deceptively difficult to spot in the bush. They have long white faces, which are very square at the mouth, and have white rears. Occurring in herds of up to 25 individuals they tend to feed mainly on grass.
Ostriches and Dassies
Then it was of to the Cape of Good Hope, which is to the north west of Cape Point. We have also seen zebra in this area before, and we knew that there would be ostrich there.
I have a suspicion that the ostrich at the Cape of Good Hope are actually nailed to the floor, or at least tethered because they are always there. They are also so used to people that they just ignore you, though, with all wild animals you should never get too close. These are massive animals with very powerful legs; a kick from an ostrich could very easily kill you, certainly break bones.
The two we saw were both females, which are a drab brown in colour, unlike males which are the more commonly conception of what an ostrich looks like. When you look at ostriches it is easy to imagine that birds evolved from dinosaurs.
And from the biggest bird in the world to the smallest elephant…
Well, not quite, but apparently possibly so. The Cape of Good Hope is my favorite place for seeing Dassies [rock hyrax]- an odd little rodent type fur-ball that live in rocky, mountainous parts of the Cape Point Peninsula (and beyond). They are so used to people that you would be hard pressed to get one to move for you. Again, they are wild animals, so shouldn’t be touched (they have massive teeth that I could imagine removing a huge chunk of finger- being ambivalent is one thing, being manhandled is something else).
It would need some pathological condition not to find Dassies ‘cute’. Looking like large guinea pigs they are actually not rodents. Genetically they are a relative of the elephant! It sounds strange, and it could be my imagination, but if you look at the nose shape, it looks a lot like the end of an elephant’s trunk.
My daughter was in fluffy heaven and I got some great photos.
In need of amenities we headed to the Cape Point parking area. While there we saw the negative side of baboon behavior. A young adult male was wandering through the main parking lot trying to steal food of unsuspecting tourists. He was obviously used to success, though it seems that today he came up short and we saw him sat on a rock later on, away from the main area. Showing no fear of humans, I could easily see him turning nasty. The sad thing is that the tourists that create this problem probably don’t see anything wrong in what they are doing. When confronted in this way, do not try and fight the baboon, get children away from the animal and remember that you are three times his size- despite him having the huge teeth. Showing fear will make you an easy target, but confrontation may cause the baboon to fight its corner. Stay calm, don’t fight over a candy bar and back away.
Surprisingly the lower part of the Cape Point Peninsula was sheltered from the wind, although we did not climb to the top. It really does feel like the end of the world; and, although it is not the southern tip of Africa it is much more dramatic than Cape Agulhas. Despite now being a tourist Mecca with a tarred road all the way to the end, it is still an awe inspiring place, especially on days when the southeaster is blowing hard and waves are crashing over rocks. Imagine trying to sail a square rigger around the cape in a storm? I have done it a few times in a luxury cruise liner that tramped across the north Atlantic in the middle of December, and nothing put the crew on full alert like a trip around the Cape Point.
We were asked a ranger where the zebra were and he pointed us back to Olifantsbos and whilst we did go back for another look it was likely that they were in a part of the park that is closed to visitors.
Whilst we didn’t see what we set off to see, we did see plenty and we left feeling very privelaged to have such amazing natural beauty of Cape Point so close to where we live.
Review – “Cape Point: Treacherous & Beautiful” by Murray Walker
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Cape Point: Treacherous & Beautiful by Murray Walker
What’s On Editor, writer, photographer, wannabe rock star.
Cape Point, the southern most part of the Cape peninsula, is a place of many contrasts. It can be decidedly ugly with its scrubby, flat nothingness and then you round a bend and the most majestic sights await with 200 metre high cliffs plunging into the icy Atlantic ocean. Seeing the landscape, I wondered what the early explorers like Bartholomew Dias thought about the place. I imagine they were terrified. It’s not a particularly inviting place.
For the casual visitor though, Cape Point Nature reserve is wonderfully inviting. The reserve makes up the southern part of Table Mountain National Park and has a small compliment of animals, and over 250 bird species. A visit to the park will cost an adult R70, so if you are planning on going, make a day of it. There are beautiful beaches, leisurely hikes and of course, the Point itself.
When we got out the car at the entrance to the Point, we were surprised at how little wind there was. It being winter and all. We headed straight to the deceptively named Two Oceans restaurant as it was lunch time and we couldn’t wait to get tucked into the world famous Two Oceans Platter. For two people, this thing is insane. Calamari, lobster, prawns, fish, mussels and pretty much every other edible sea creature can be found dripping in deliciousness. I’m sure the stunning views across False Bay from the restaurant made the meal all the better.
From there we headed to the Flying Dutchman funicular. This nifty cart will get you up a rather daunting hill in no time and before we knew it we were on the short walk to the Point. With our tummies weighing us down, we took our time, marvelling at the majesty of our surroundings.
It is a common misconception that Cape Point is the place where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet – the suggestion to the that fact isn’t helped by the name of the restaurant – but in fact the two oceans meet at Africa’s most southerly point, Cape Agulhas, some 100km east of Cape Point. The fact that the seas surrounding the point are so rough, has little to do with the clash of two oceans and more to do with the terrain and the exposure to the elements.
As we hopped back on the funicular, it was approaching closing time so we started back toward the gate, but not before a stop at one of the beautiful beaches that dot this area of the coastline.
We left with the sun setting on what must be one of the world’s most treacherous and beautiful places. We are truly blessed to have this World Heritage Site in our back yard.
Review – Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope
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This review was written by Fodors.com
Once a nature reserve on its own, this section of Table Mountain National Park covers more than 19,000 acres. Much of the park consists of rolling hills covered with fynbos and laced with miles of walking trails, for which maps are available at the park entrance. It also has beautiful deserted beaches (you can swim at some of these beaches, but note that there are no amenities or lifeguards). Eland, baboon, ostrich, and bontebok (a colorful antelope nearly hunted to extinction in the early 20th century) are among the animals that roam the park. A paved road runs 12½ km (8 mi) to the tip of the peninsula, and a turnoff leads to the Cape of Good Hope, a rocky cape that is the southwesternmost point of the continent. A plaque marks the spot—otherwise you would never know you’re standing on a site of such significance.
The opposite is true of Cape Point, a dramatic knife’s edge of rock that slices into the Atlantic. Looking out to sea from the viewing platform, you feel you’re at the tip of Africa, even though that honor officially belongs to Cape Agulhas, about 160 km (100 mi) to the southeast. From Cape Point the views of False Bay and the Hottentots Holland Mountains are astonishing. The walk up to the viewing platform and the old lighthouse is very steep; a funicular makes the run every three or four minutes. Take a jacket or sweater—the wind can be fierce. It took six years, from 1913 to 1919, to build the old lighthouse, 816 feet above the high-water mark. On a clear day the old lighthouse was a great navigational mark, but when the mists rolled in it was useless, so a new and much lower lighthouse (286 feet) was built at Dias Lookout Point. The newer, revolving lighthouse, the most powerful on the South African coast, emits a group of three flashes every 30 seconds. It has prevented a number of ships from ending up on Bellows or Albatross Rock below. You can’t go into the lighthouses, but the views from their bases are spectacular.
Stark reminders of the ships that didn’t make it are dotted around the Cape. You’ll see their rusty remains on some of the beaches. One of the more famous wrecks is the Thomas T. Tucker, one of hundreds of Liberty Ships produced by the United States to enable the Allies to move vast amounts of supplies during World War II. It wasn’t the German U-boats patrolling the coastline that did the ship in. Rather the fog closed in, and on her maiden voyage in 1942, she ended up on Olifantsbos Point. Fortunately, all on board were saved, but the wreck soon broke up in the rough seas that pound the coast.
The park has some excellent land-based whale-watching spots. About June to November, whales return to these waters to calve. You’re most likely to see the Southern Right whale in False Bay, but the occasional humpback and Bryde’s whale also show up. When the water is calm you may even be lucky enough to see a school of dolphins looping past. The Rooikrans parking lot is good for whale-watching, but there are any number of lookout points. It’s just a matter of driving around until you see the characteristic spray or a shiny black fluke.
The mast you see on the western slopes of Cape Point near the lighthouse belongs to the Global Atmosphere Watch Station (GAW). The South African Weather Bureau, together with the Fraunhofer Institute in Garmisch, Germany, maintains a research laboratory here to monitor long-term changes in the chemistry of the earth’s atmosphere, which may impact climate. This is one of 20 GAWs throughout the world, chosen because the air at Cape Point is considered particularly pure most of the time.
The large sit-down Two Oceans Restaurant has spectacular views, and recent changes in management have vastly improved the food. Also here are a kiosk selling snacks and three gift shops. During peak season (December-January), visit Cape Point as early in the day as you can; otherwise you’ll be swamped by horrendous numbers of tour buses and their occupants. A fun alternative is an overnight hike with comfortable basic accommodations and incredible views, booked through South African National Parks. Be wary of baboons in the parking lot; they have been known to steal food and can be dangerous if provoked. Do not feed them. Unfortunately the indigenous chacma baboons are increasingly under threat, and the Peninsula’s population is currently estimated at only 350-400 individuals. Many baboons have been shot for raiding homes and stealing food. Baboon-feeding tourists only exacerbate this serious situation.