Cape Point

Cape Point ( Cape dt peak ) is a cliff at the southern end of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, which forms the tip of the Cape Peninsula. It is located about one kilometer east of the Cape of Good Hope, with which it is often confused.

Cape Point forms the eastern end of the Cape Peninsula, but is not the southernmost point of the Cape Peninsula, as suggested on some photos or cards. The Cape of Good Hope is 2 arc seconds (about 60 m) south. The southernmost point of Africa is the Cape Agulhas.

The question whether Cape Point is the point where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet, can not be answered clearly. Clean topographically the southernmost point of the African continent is 150 km to the east, known at Cape Agulhas, Cape Agulhas as well. However, since before Cape Point a cold Atlantic and warm ocean currents from the Indian Ocean meet ( at a distance of 200 km from the mainland), the Cape Point is often referred to as the point of the encounter of the two oceans. The bay east of Cape Point always has in this case a higher water temperature than the western sea side.

The Cape of Good Hope is completely natural: other than the road that leads there, a small parking and turning area for cars and buses and a sign with the coordinates of the place is nothing there. Cape Point, however, is accessible by tourist infrastructure, here you will also find the " Two Oceans Restaurant ".

The destination can be reached by stairs on foot or with a small funicular. The latter approach leads to near the older of the two lighthouses from the parking lot. This was built on the highest point of the cliff at 238 m above sea level in 1859. Since this first lighthouse is too high and is too far from the coast, his light lost in the fog that forms at its height too often. With 900 hours in the light cone was relatively rarely visible from afar. This led in 1911 to the demise of a ship called the Lusitania, with over 700 people on board ( not to be confused with that ship, which in 1915 was sunk by a submarine ). Therefore, a new lighthouse was built on only 87 meters above the sea closer to the water on so-called Diaz Point. From the old lighthouse out in the vicinity of the new one trail to the steep cliff walls running alongside it. At the end of the path there is a viewing platform overlooking the new lighthouse.

Since the air at Cape Point is largely unencumbered, here is a climate monitoring station was built, which is operated by the South African Weather Bureau and the German Fraunhofer Institute and belongs to the network of the Global Atmosphere Watch.