Cape Peninsula – Route – South Africa

For the last day of our unfortunately much too short trip to South Africa, we had put together a densely packed program. From Swellendam we drove via Cape Town to the Cape Peninsula. For the way there we chose a route that led us over the Chapman’s Peak Drive. This coastal road winds its way between the sea and steep cliffs from Hout Bay to Noordhoes with over 100 curves and offers spectacular views. However, the road is relatively challenging to drive and the driver is better off not being distracted too much by the view.

Table Mountain National Park and Cape of Good Hope

Afterwards we switched to the east side of the Cape Peninsula and drove through Boulder’s Beach, Simon’s Town and Fish Hoek. In Boulder’s Beach, a poster with the inscription “Penguins” tempted us to make a short stop. There is actually a colony of African penguins to visit. Nevertheless, we decided against a detour, because on the one hand the entrance fee seemed too high for us and on the other hand we found that there are far too many tourists. After these villages, you enter Table Mountain National Park. After the entrance gate, a road leads straight ahead towards Cape Point. To get to the Cape of Good Hope you have to take the right turn. The Cape of Good Hope is unspoilt and has no special tourist infrastructure. Nevertheless, we were a bit irritated by the number of tourists who arrived by car. But maybe this was due to the fact that we had met practically no tourists on the Garden Route before.

Cape Point

Cape Point is about 1 kilometer from the Cape of Good Hope and forms the southern end of the Cape Peninsula. There are various souvenir shops, a restaurant and a huge parking lot. It even has a funicular that allows you to easily reach the highest point. We did some sports and took the stairs. The view from Cape Point is really spectacular and the detour is definitely worth it in my opinion.

The way back took us via Kalk Bay directly to the airport. Since our navigation system was on strike, we used the landing planes as a guide to find out in which direction we had to go. This method led us across the townships, but in the end we actually got to the airport without any major detours. One thing is clear, there will definitely be a reunion with South Africa!