Natural and cultural heritage are irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. They are our legacies from the past, what we live with today and what we pass onto future generations. The Cape Point Route is an area of natural beauty, open spaces, magnificent scenery with diverse cultures and unique attractions. Natural heritage becomes a relative term in the area as the entire destination is a smorgasbord of mountain and sea, flora and fauna and it encompasses a World Heritage site in the Cape Floral Kingdom.
The Cape Point Route runs from Hout Bay on the Atlantic coastline, over Chapman’s Peak Drive, down through the towns of Noordhoek, Kommetjie and Scarborough to Cape Point itself. It traverses back up the False Bay coastline through Simon’s Town, Fish Hoek, Kalk Bay and St James to Muizenberg. Cape Point Route is two coastlines wrapped around a national park. This is not a been- there–bought-the-t-shirt place. It’s real and it’s beautiful. With dramatic mountain ranges, and long ocean fronts, this is the stuff that you see in the movies. The Cape Point Route is easy, affordable and accessible, located just 30 minutes to Cape Town City Centre. Often termed Cape Town’s playground, the Cape Point Route has some of the most unexpected wildlife and eco-nature experiences available in the country.
The Penguins at Boulders Beach have gained international stardom both from their accessibility and their quirky nature. A visit to the Cape is not complete without a stop at tuxedo junction where you will be entertained by the very characters of these birds. The African penguins arrived at Boulders Beach in 1982 and have grown to a colony of 3 – 4000 penguins. African penguins are listed in the international Red Data book of endangered species. Viewing platforms and boardwalks protect the breeding areas of the penguins and allow for excellent viewing of penguins watching people watch penguins. One can also sea kayak past the penguins for a unique viewpoint and a fun, safe activity for all ages and levels of experience. Birding tours on the Cape Point Route abound with numerous guided tours and also pelagic trips (pelagics are our seabirds and trips go from Simon’s Town Harbour).
Marine life and whale watching on the Cape Point Route is a hidden treasure. Southern Right Whales abound during breeding season from June – November but numerous other species are found in the bay, including Bryde’s whales and humpbacks. There are great land based whale watching sights along the entire Cape Point Route Coastline with hot spots at Glencairn, Fish Hoek, Kalk Bay and Muizenberg. There is nothing quite like observing a 15 metre whale breaching in the waters in front of you- especially over lunch and a glass of wine at one of the ocean fronted restaurants or from the balcony of your Bed and Breakfast. A truly memorable experience however is to get up close and personal to these gentle giants of the sea, on a whale watching boat trip. It is interesting to recall that whaling was the third biggest income earner for the Cape colony in the 1820’s (after agriculture and wine making). Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town, now the centres for whale tourism, housed the main whaling stations at the Cape until the near extinction of the Southern Right Whales in the mid 1830’s.
Boat trips are a brilliant way to experience the natural heritage of the Cape Point Route. Various boat trips go to Seal Island in False Bay and Duiker Island in Hout Bay where there are large colonies of Cape Fur Seals - so named because they have very thick pelts unlike true seals which only have a thin covering of hair. Seals prefer breeding on rocky ground, hence the abundance of seals on both these islands. Their habitat does provide a great opportunity to get out on the water and feel the salt spray on your cheeks and that is a definite holiday feeling.
Despite the controversy surrounding Great White sharks, there are opportunities to discover more about these fascinating creatures, their natures and habits on the Cape Point Route. The Great White Sharks have gained fame in False Bay for their breaching habits and have often been termed the Great white flying sharks. The best time to catch this unusual display is during the Cape’s Winter. Shark cage diving and viewing tours run from Simon’s Town harbour and longer excursions take place in summer to see mako and blue sharks as well as pelagic sea birds and the blue predators. Despite the fear factor that is fostered by the presence of sharks, swimming is safe and the beaches are scanned by shark spotters who alert bathers if “Jaws” are close to shore. It is however recommended to swim within the breakers!
Another controversial creature is the Chacma baboon seen with regularity on the Cape Point Route. A unique species that also feeds on shellfish – they are fun to watch with their human qualities and make fabulous subjects for photographers. The controversy has resulted from the decrease in space of their natural habitat and the baboons are forced to forage in “human territory” to survive. These social creatures do not naturally attack or challenge humans but will protect themselves if cornered so please help protect them and don’t feed them! Book a guided walk through mountain fynbos on a specialised 2- 3 hour tour and spend time with the last remaining Chacma baboons in the Cape Peninsula.
Cape Fynbos is a wonder of the world and is one of the richest areas for plants in the world. It represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa but is home to nearly 20% of the continent’s flora. Fynbos means fine bush in Afrikaans so you will see very few large trees but lots of scrubs, bush and some sensational flowers depending on the season. With more than 2285 species of plants, the Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest floral kingdom in the world in size, but it contains more plant species than the entire British Isles and New Zealand and it is for these outstanding ecological and biological processes that the area gained World Heritage Status in 2004. The hot spots for these floral experiences are Silvermine Nature Reserve, Rondevlei Nature Reserve or Cape Point Nature Reserve.
World Heritage Sites tend to be iconic tourist attractions in most countries but planned and controlled tourism to cope with dynamic growth of tourism in international and domestic markets is essential to the preservation of our natural heritage. Part of the Cape floral Kingdom exists within the boundaries of the Cape Point Nature Reserve and is part of the protected Table Mountain National Park.
Keep your eyes peeled when visiting the Cape Point Nature Reserve for small antelope like klipspringers, duiker, grysbok and steenbok. They may not be as exciting as the big 5 but they are indigenous to the area and integral to the ecosystem of the park. Larger antelope like red hartebeest, cape mountain zebra and eland can also be found in the park so get your check list ready and scan the horizon. Take some time to explore the roads less travelled or plan a hiking trip in the hopes of spotting some of the shyer mammals like the Cape fox, genets, polecats, molerats, porcupines and mongooses. You may be lucky enough to see a tortoise or some of the reptiles (22 snakes, lizards) and there is a strong likelihood of spotting one of the 62 frog species (more than half of South Africa’s frog species are found right here in the Cape!)
The Cape Point Route is proud of its’ natural heritage and we live with a healthy respect of nature. In protecting, loving, and sharing our natural assets we learn to co-exist with nature and provide a sustainable environment making the world a better place to live. Visitors are welcome to enjoy our beaches and seas, to share our mountains with their floral status and to gasp in amazement at our wildlife. The Cape Point Route offers so much more than natural beauty, please contact the offices for places where and how to taste it, see it, live it and do it to experience it. We are not a one-day destination we are worth more than a one night stand!
Please contact us on +27 - 21- 7829356 or email info@capepointroute.co.za for more information on Natural Heritage or where to eat, stay or play.
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