Point of interestThe year 1939 was the end of a long and difficult war over the soul of Cape Point, and the start of a long and difficult war over the soul of Europe.
Cape of soldiers – Cape Point’s military history Read More »
The Story of Adamastor, the Untamed Titan Fall of the TitansOnce upon a time, so long ago that not even the Greek gods had been born – or so the sages tell us – the Earth and the Sky gave birth to twelve Titans.
Cape of Myths : The story of Adamastor Read More »
The Cape Point Lighthouses Let there be lightWhen the governor of the Cape gave John Osmond ownership of Cape Point’s Buffelsvlei and Uitershoek farms in 1816, he did so on one strict condition.
Cape of Migrants The Story of Buffelsfontein Farm Land of strandlopers and lime The jagged rocks and cliffs of Cape Point may look dangerous and inhospitable to modern visitors who feel the waves battering the cliffs and smell the spray of the salt in the air, but for our Early Stone Age ancestors that lived
Cape of Migrants: The Story of Buffelsfontein Farm Read More »
The Shipwrecks of Cape Point When he rounded Cape Point in 1580, the great English explorer Sir Francis Drake famously described it as “A most stately thing and the fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the Earth.”
Cape of Storms: The Shipwrecks of Cape Point Read More »
Cape of Horns Bontebok of the Cape Point Near extinction of bontebok in South AfricaBontebok were once so numerous in the Cape that the first colonists considered them to be pests. The wanton slaughter of the animals eventually decimated the population. By the mid-1920s, there were less than 20 bontebok in the Cape.
Cape of Horns: Bontebok of Cape Point Read More »
Cape of Primates – Don’t feed the chacma baboons! The Farmer Who Dressed Up as His Wife Of all the stories about baboons of the Western Cape, perhaps the most interesting is the one about the farmer who tried to trick a meddlesome troop by putting on his wife’s dress and a wig.
Cape of Primates – Cape Point’s chacma baboons Read More »
The legend of the Flying Dutchman The HMS Leven’s sighting On 8 July 1822, the Coastal Survey Ship H.M Leven rounded Cape Point on her way to map the eastern coastline of Africa.
The Cape of Ghosts Read More »
The Funicular Trams A tough trip to the top In 1877, the lighthouse keeper at the Cape Point lighthouse began to keep a visitor’s book. The objective was partly for his own records and amusement, and partly to reward those who had made the arduous trip.
The Cape of climbs Read More »
The Rounding of Cape Point Part 1: The first attempt – Bartolomeu Dias Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the first sailing ship to have rounded the Cape of Good Hope, is that it didn’t.
The Cape of Pioneers Read More »
The funicular will be out of service from 20 July to 31 August 2026 while essential upgrade and maintenance works are carried out. A shuttle service will be available. The lighthouse area remains accessible on foot.
