We are visiting Cape Town, South Africa and it is turning out to be an amazing experience. But I must say I'm rather gobsmacked at knowing the 'real truth' about Cape of Good Hope. Please let me explain...
I think pretty well the whole world has been duped into thinking that the Cape of Good Hope is the most southern part of the African continent that divides the Atlantic and Indian oceans, just like Cape Horn is the dividing line between the Pacific and Atlantic in South America. That's what they've been saying in Geography text books for decades. What a shock when I found out this isn't true!
It is true that a Portuguese explorer back in 1488, Bartolomeu Dias, first made markings and title of this barren stoney point at the bottom of Africa. He had originally named it the "Cape of Storms" because of- well- the big storms that happen here. But when he got back to Portugal to tell the King about it, the King said "no, no, no Bart, this won't do". He told Bart that if other explorers heard about the storms and difficulty in sailing around the Cape that they might not go. He said "Bart, we need to be more hopeful about this... I've got an idea, Let's call it Cape of Good Hope- get it?" And because he was King- well, that was that. This gave the spin of a prosperous sea route around Africa to get to the spice trade and the Orient.
The big shocker? It turns out this Cape isn't the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans afterall, nor is it the most southern point of South Africa!! Bart's guys jumped to this conclusion too fast and many years later it was scientifically determined that a place about 250 km further east is really the dividing line and most southern body of land. But because the King said so, geographers just kind of made a note of this tiny discrepancy.
It is correct at the site though- the sign at Cape of Good Hope says the most South- Western point of the African continent:
And one last comment about this 'Cape', it's only 50 km south of Cape Town and the scenery is amazing compared to the treacherous land around Cape Horn in South America. In fact, the whole coastal region down from Cape Town has gorgeous seaside resort towns and villages. Here's a pic of Camps Bay:
And Hout Bay:
And on the other side of the point, here is a pic of False Bay:
The story on the 'false' part is that initially it was Cape Bay but because it really isn't the Cape they called it False Bay!!
No comments:
Post a Comment