Doug and Kerry Hudson at Boulders Beach, Cape Town, South Africa

World Trip >> Africa >> Cape Town >> Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope National Park is one of our all-time favourite places of all time. It has a unique combination of incredible scenery, majestic wildlife and historical interest. The famous Englishman Sir Francis Drake sailed around the cape over four hundred years ago, declaring it to be "The Fairest Cape in all the Worlde." And you can still see the crosses high on the clifftops, erected even earlier by the Portugese sea-farers Diaz and Vasco De Gama.

During our year of world travel we visited this park on several occasions. The first was when Doug's parents Margaret and Dick were on holiday in Cape Town. On our way there, we had stopped at Boulders Beach to enjoy the penguins. That’s right! These are African penguins and they actually enjoy the warm weather. They were so sweet, waddling around like little people in tuxedos and making a horrendous din.

Imagine asthmatic donkeys!

Cape Point was very windy but as beautiful as ever. Cape Point is not the most southerly point in South Africa, as some people think (as you well know, that honour rests with Cape Agulhas) but it does offer magnificent scenery and sea views. We had pies for lunch and Dick nearly lost his to a marauding bird trying to snatch the food out of his hands! We were very lucky to see bontebok and wild ostrich as we drove down to the Cape of Good Hope, as well as baboons. This was a special moment for Margaret, who remembered her geography lessons about this cape such a long time ago, never imagining she would ever be there. Off the coast there we saw more whales.

We returned to the Cape Peninsula the next day, without Doug's parents, in order to visit one of the shipwrecks. Our decision to return was justified even before we got there. On the way, we saw three more groups of whales, frolicking in the sun just beyond the wave line. On arriving at the park, we were greeted by a troupe of baboons, including some very cute baby ones. Driving into the park, we spotted several wild tortoises warming themselves up by the side of the road. We also spotted two snakes, including a puff adder. As it was deadly looking, needless to say we remained safely in the car. We were very nervous as we took to our trail, the Thomas T. Tucker Trail. Every rustle in the undergrowth made us even more nervous. We reached the beach safely and headed round to the shipwreck of the Thomas T. Tucker. The whole beach was devoid of human life, and we felt like the only people in the world to have ever been there. We saw avocet, black oyster-catcher and a white-breasted cormorant among the abundant bird life. The shipwreck was eerie: red rusting iron twisted and ripped apart, then scattered all over the beach. We wondered how many people had perished there.

We returned to the Cape of Good Hope National Park three months later, accompanied by Doug's brother James and their cousin Martin. Once again, we stopped off at Boulders Beach on the way. It was remarkable to see how the penguins co-exist with people there. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours there, entertained by the antics of the penguins and either paddling (Doug), sunbathing (Kerry) or clambering over the enormous boulders (James and Martin).

We eventually headed further along to the Cape of Good Hope National Park. We all walked up to Cape Point, except James who took the funicular railway, the lazy sod! After a bite for lunch, we drove around to the Cape of Good Hope. The wind here was so strong that it made Doug’s eyes water!

World Trip >> Africa >> Cape Town >> Cape of Good Hope

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006