Hike or cycle through rolling hills covered with fynbos (shrubs) to the famous Cape Point on the Cape of Good Hope: spot wildlife such as baboons, eland, red hartebeest, bontebok, ostriches and zebra along the way.
This section of the Table Mountain National Park (previously known as Cape Peninsula National Park) covers more than 7500 hectares and is networked with countless walking trails. You can pick up a map at the park entrance.
Alternatively, take the funicular rail or drive the 12.5km-long paved road to the tip of the peninsula and the viewing platforms that surround the old lighthouse. Enjoy spectacular ocean views from the towering 180m-high cliffs as thousands of seagulls wheel below.
Swim off unspoiled beaches along the Atlantic and False Bay sides of the Cape: try Platboom Beach (one of the best), Buffels Bay Beach and Diaz Beach.
Or kayak beneath the rugged cliffs that make up Africa’s most southwesterly point, looking out for black oystercatchers, avocets, brilliant coloured sunbirds and sly baboons.
From the boardwalk overlooking protected Boulders Beach, watch and listen to the braying calls of the largest colony of jackass penguins found on the African mainland.
Boulders Beach is just a few kilometres south of Simon's Town on the eastern side of Cape Peninsula.
The Cape of Good Hope is located at the southwest corner of the Cape Peninsula, around 2km (1.2mi) west and a little south of Cape Point, which sits on the southeast corner. Cape Town is 50km (31mi) north of the Cape.
The park has some excellent land-based dolphin and whale-watching spots, such as the Rooikrans parking lot. Be wary of baboons; they can be dangerous if provoked. Do not feed them.
From June to November, whales return to these waters to calve. Look out for the Southern Right, Bryde's whale and humpback whales in False Bay.
Note: To see the geographic southern tip of Africa and the meeting place of two oceans – the Atlantic and Indian Oceans – you need to head 170km (105mi) southeast of Cape Town to the rocky headland of Cape Agulhas.
The cape consists of a gradually curving coastline with a marker indicating the official diving line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
Location: Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town
Phone: 021/780-9526; 021/780-9204
Admission: Table Mountain R60
Hours: Daily 7am-5pm April-September, 6am-6pm October-March
Website: www.sanparks.org
Latest update: Cape Point | Cape of Good Hope: 12 July, 2024
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