Winter at the Cape of Storms

Exploring the wild southwestern tip of Africa

Waves crash against the rocky shore at the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

Located down at the southwestern corner of the African continent, the City of Cape Town is famous for its wild and rugged mountainous beauty.

Many have seen photographs of the city centre’s famous profile, backed by Table Mountain, Devil's Peak and Lion’s Head.

Few realise that these iconic peaks are just the beginning of a mountainous Peninsula, extending southwards beyond the city limits to the wild South Atlantic Ocean.

View from the Smitswinkel viewpoint over Judas Peak and False Bay at the start of the False Bay Scenic hiking trail. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

This wild landscape forms the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, culminating in Cape Point and the adjacent Cape of Good Hope.

Here, many believe that this is where the two oceans, namely the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, meet. In fact, this honour goes to Cape Agulhas in the Overberg, which is the true southern tip of Africa.

It is not without reason that this area is known as the Cape of Storms, with the Cape Peninsula having claimed the lives of many in shipwrecks over the years.

The SS Lusitania, a Portuguese liner, was wrecked off Bellows Rock in 1911 with the loss of eight lives.

The beautiful blooms of the cobra lily (Chasmanthe aethiopica) can be seen in mid-winter in the fynbos. Table Mountain National Park, Cape of Good Hope section, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

Many visitors to the Cape during the 19th and 20th centuries have claimed to have seen the wreck of the Flying Dutchman, a ghostly ship believed to be doomed to sail the oceans forever without ever successfully rounding Cape Point.

It is easy to believe these tales when visiting this section of the national park during a winter storm.

During wild weather, this place takes on a rugged beauty all its own. On the oceanward side of the Cape Peninsula, waves crash violently onto the rocky shores and beaches.

Pink form of the tassel heath (Erica coccinea) in bloom in fynbos vegetation in the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

My most recent visit to this stunning place was on a cold and stormy winter day.

A cold front brought high winds and fierce rain showers from dark storm clouds that obscured the mountain peaks. Intense light shows highlighted the soft colours of the fynbos in between the showers.

The wind almost blew my identity book away as I passed through the entrance gates, located exposed above Smitswinkel Bay.

I stopped at the Smitswinkel viewpoint just after entering the park, which offers spectacular views over Judas Peak and False Bay.

The furry flowers of the black-bearded protea (Protea lepidocarpodendron) (Near Threatened) look like small furry creatures with raindrops glistening. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

Tucked away next to the car park was a beautiful stand of cobra lilies (Chasmanthe aethiopica) in full bloom, their intense red blooms vivid against the dark and stormy skies.

I continued onwards to the Smitswinkel Flats viewpoint, a small hill worth visiting to get a sense of what the sweeping lowlands of the Cape Flats may have once looked like before being covered by urban development.

This hidden viewpoint is often missed by the many large coaches racing past on their way to Cape Point.

Golden conebushes (Leucadendron laureolum) in bloom against grey winter stormy skies. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

As I crept from the car, the heavens opened in an almighty horizontal downpour as the wind whipped across the flats.

I took shelter behind a Black-Bearded Protea bush (Protea lepidocarpodendron), its odd-looking black-and-yellow blooms poking from within the foliage like small furry creatures.

Sadly, today the Black-Bearded Protea is listed as Near Threatened on the Red List of South African plants.

This has happened due to habitat loss from urban housing development and invasive alien plants colonising the indigenous fynbos vegetation.

A fynbos garden: Skeletal forms of old pagoda trees (Mimetes) sit among the fynbos with blombos (Metalasia), restios and golden spiderheads (Serruria villosa) in full bloom. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

As the wind howled, I leapt for the car and slammed the door as I arrived back inside its dry and calm sanctuary away from the driving rain.

Without another visitor in sight, I continued onwards, taking a left down the Circular Drive away from the main road to Cape Point.

The showers continued as I drove, with intense bright light against the golden conebushes (Leucadendron laureolum) that line the surrounding hills en masse.

Soft fynbos colours in the stormy afternoon light. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

Eventually, the rain stopped, and the misty grey clouds parted to reveal the sea nearby, with huge waves thundering towards the coastline.

In the foreground were the skeletal forms of old dead pagoda trees (Mimetes), surrounded by the soft stems of restios and carpets of golden spiderheads (Serruria villosa).

I jumped back into the car, and as I turned the ignition, nothing happened. Oh no…please not now and not here. I was alone on one of the loneliest roads on the Cape Peninsula.

My twenty-year-old car has its moments of being reliably unreliable and sometimes needs coaxing to behave. I tried the ignition again, and it fired into life. Panic over.

The soft orange and yellow blooms of Gladiolus bonaspei are backlit among the restios. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

As I rounded the corner, the sun highlighted the bright orange and yellow blooms of Gladiolus bonaspei dancing among the restios in the fynbos.

This beauty grows on sandy flats and is named after the Cape of Good Hope. With the light behind them, they looked as though they were on fire.

It was late afternoon, and the light was soft and fading. I decided to take a drive down to the Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern tip of the African continent.

Along the road to the tip, moody wild seas lashed the rocky shore as seagulls and cormorants wheeled in the high winds.

You are now at the southwestern tip of Africa. The famous sign stands quietly next to wild winter seas. Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Photo ©Zoë Chapman Poulsen.

Here stands the rocky promontory of the Cape of Good Hope, with the famous signpost announcing my arrival at the end of Africa. Today I was here alone, with only my thoughts and the wild weather for company.

As the light went, I slowly began the long drive northwards towards home, dry clothes, and a mug of hot chocolate.