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The Cape of Good Hope is part of the Atlantic Ocean off the shores of Africa. There are many who believe that this cape is the most southerly tip of Africa, but actually Cape Agulhas is 90 miles further south. The two rocky Capes form the Table Mountain group.
The original name of the cape was “Cape of Storms”, but it was later renamed the Cape of Good Hope by John II of Portugal since it opened the way to India and the East and offered great hope for the future because of this discovery. Its central location proved essential and a re-supply camp was established by Dutchman Jan van Riebeeck for the Dutch East India Company in 1652 later becoming Cape Town. Cape Town was known as the Tavern of the Seas. In 1687 Huguenots landed on Cape of Good Hope escaping religious persecution in France. IN 1795 Britain invaded the Cape, but handed over control in 1803, then returned in 1806, remaining a British colony until 1910.
There are over 250 different species of birds found on the Cape of Good Hope, among them the wild ostrich. Many small animals are found there as well. Whale watching is a favorite pass time on the cape allowing the spotting of the southern right whale and the hump back whale among others. |
