Saturday 7 October 2017

The Most South Westerm Point of the African Continent

Our last night in Cape Town was a memorable affair, filled with the exciting sounds and rythms of African music, and dancing. Along with the entertainment we ate delicious local food - much of which was vegetarian - each of the 20 small tasty dishes of food were freshly prepared. I even had my face painted with flowers like the girl pictured above.
We set off in bright sunlight the next morning along the Atlantic coastal route - a very picturesque journey known as Chapman's Peak Drive.
courtesy wiki
and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope
We arrived here early and had it virtually to ourselves, apart from baboons leaping over rocks.



and the occasional ostrich patrolling the beach.
The Cape of Good Hope marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward. It was once thought to be the spot where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean, but that is a few miles further around to the east of this southerly point. Known for its spectacular scenery it was originally named the Cape of Storms; later it was renamed, by King John ll of Portugal, the Cape of Good Hope because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East.
This remote spot had us completely spell bound with its roaring Atlantic rollers and the many shades of blue in the sea and sky. The glistening amber coloured rocks, the kelp twinkling in the sunlight, together with the hundreds of glossy jet black Cape Cormorants posing and preening 
















39 comments:

  1. What a magical place to see Rosemary. I loved your pictures, and it occurs to me I have never seen photos of the Cape of Good Hope before, despite hearing about it in constant references to the discovery of Australia and the East. The cormorants, the sea, the kelp, the rocks, all look wonderful. Enjoying your visit to South Africa very much.

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    1. It was so wild and beautiful Patricia - we felt as if we were on the edge of the world - looking out to sea, the next great landmass is Antarctica

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  2. Dear Rosemary - So dynamic wildlife with such breathtakingly beautiful shades of blue at the Cape of Good Hope. I can hear the sound of waves and wind and the vigorous calling of the birds. I’m moved and feel elation with the birds who look to show the joy of living. I really understand how you felt reluctant to leave.

    Yoko

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    1. Dear Yoko - I am so pleased that these images conveyed to you the magic of this pristine spot. Memories of it will live with me forever.

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  3. Hi Rosemary,
    You certainly get the feeling from the photos about how wild it is. Such beautiful scenery. I am sure you found everything South Africa had to offer exhilarating. There seems to be a missing picture though... The one of you with your face painted. ;-)

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    1. Hello Catherine - she painted my face with blue forgetmenots and white dots in a similar fashion to hers, but I steer clear of having my own photo taken.

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    2. I avoid cameras myself. I was teasing you.

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  4. Dear Rosemary, I came back just in time to enjoy your very informative and beautiful posts about South Africa. I have always admired Cape Dutch Architecture and have incorporated the neoclassical gable design into one of our buildings. The last design looks so much like the designs you see all over Italy.

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    1. Dear Gina - how lovely that you have incorporated a neoclassical gable into the design of one of your buildings. The buildings in the winelands looked so attractive in their valley settings.

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  5. Hello Rosemary, What a great name is the Cape of Good Hope, almost like something out of Milton. How remote and natural it seems, infinitely distant from the world's cares and problems. The sign reminds me of when I went to Key West, where everything bore a sign proclaiming it the Southernmost something-or-other in the U.S.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim - the sign definitely didn't fit comfortably in this remote spot for me.

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  6. The Cape of Good Hope! What a fabled place! It's so beautiful too and your photos are fab as always.

    PS -- FYI, I answered your question about Justice, Manitoba on my blog. I won't repeat it here on your blog because it's too long, lol.

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  7. All I can say is WOW, trying to picture ostriches on the seashore, now that's different.

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    1. That is something that takes some getting used to in South Africa, the wild animals are everywhere - we are so used to seeing them only in zoos.

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  8. Again your pictures are gorgeous, so many cormorants together, we have lots of them too, but this is different. I think the photo of the ostrich is my favorite this time, I knew they have ostrichfarms in South Africa but when you see one in the wild watching the sea...that must have been a happy moment.

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    1. I must admit to being rather bemused myself to see an ostrich marching along the beach it was so unexpected.

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  9. Wonderful photos, the roaring sea and the Cormorants are spectacular !

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  10. Looks lovely there. I always love big swells and waves. West Coast of Ireland and Australia have similar huge seas even on a calm day rolling in from the open ocean.

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    1. It is interesting to reflect that the next landmass across this roaring sea is Antartica.

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  11. Dearest Rosemary,
    What a lovely spot to observe the wildlife of South Africa.
    Never had seen such glossy jet black Cape Cormorants and indeed, they loved posing in front of your lens!
    When we went to South Africa we did start out in Johannesburg and went to Pretoria for the Conference. Later to Cape Town and to Durban.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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  12. What a wonderful place to visit. You almost reached the same latitude as Melbourne!
    The mountains and wild seascape photos are fantastic!

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    1. I hadn't considered that, but you are right.

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  13. After we sailed around Cape Horn my next wish was to visit The Cape of Good Hope - thanks for the glimpses!

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  14. Icould also have watched the cormorants for hours, your photos gave a tremendous impression of the movements and noise of this area. Thanks.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed seeing a reminder of your own visit♡

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  15. I have never seen such a bird,and there were so many. What pretty Dutch facades on the buildings and the canyon reminds me a bit of our Grand Canyon.

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    1. We have cormorants in Europe but not so glossy and jet black as these at the Cape.

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  16. Vautsi, so many cormorants, never seen.
    All photos are so wonderful, the place is beautiful.

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  17. What a wild and lovely spot, written about in so many stories passed down over the years. How casually you threw in the bit about baboons on the beach!

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    1. This spot is forever imprinted on my memory - the brilliant sunshine must have played its part too making the colours so vivid and all the surfaces sparkle.

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  18. I can understand your reluctance to leave this shoreline it must have been lovely to just share it with the wildlife. Were yiu on an organised holiday with guides? Sarah x

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    1. Yes we travelled with a group - I think that it would be very difficult to organise all of the things we saw if you were doing it yourself.

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“You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you - you have to go to them sometimes”

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