Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point

As South Africa's Cape Peninsula stretches south-west into the South Atlantic Ocean, the rugged terrain narrows until it terminates at the rocky headland known as the Cape of Good Hope.

Cape Point, the most south-westerly tip of the Cape of Good Hope forms part of a designated nature reserve located within the larger Table Mountain National Park and is renowned for the breath-taking beauty of its landscape and of the diverse and abundant wild flowers and plants that grow here.

Due to its treacherous weather and rocky waters this region was originally named the 'Cape of Storms' in 1488 by its Portuguese discoverer, Bartolomeu Dias, but was later renamed 'the Cape of Good Hope' by King John II of Portugal. In 1859 the Cape received its first lighthouse. Standing almost 250 meters above sea level, today it can climbed to on foot or via the gently ascending Cape Point Funicular Railway. The lighthouse's more recent successor, installed in 1914, remains the most powerful lighthouse in operation on the South African coast.

It is the natural wonders of the area, however, that are the highlights of any tour of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. Part of a UNESCO World Heritage site known as the Cape Floral Region, Cape Point hosts 1,100 different plant and flower species, more than 250 bird species and a diversity of wild animals including zebra, eland, baboons and various reptiles.