“Autumn is the best time to visit Cape Point Reserve,” I told my photo tour client.
Let’s call the client Jeanette. I’ve always wanted to write a line like that. 🙂 That’s what the big-time investigative reporters do, don’t they. 🙂
I don’t have permission to use Jeanette’s real name so Jeanette it is.
Anyhoo, Jeanette is a swallow. She spends her time between Europe and Cape Town and has never visited Cape point before. Jeanette is a keen photographer. She wanted to take one of my photos tours through the reserve.
Autumn in Cape Town is the best time of year. It is usually wind-free, or at least there is less wind in the months of April and May.
Not this year. Yoh, the wind howled on all the days we had set aside for our outing.
We waited three weeks and then the perfect day, according to all the forecasts arrived.
We pulled the trigger and set out.
It was a good call.
After an early morning coffee in Noordhoek, we headed over the mountain to False Bay. We were in time to capture the sunrise coming up over the distant mountains. The perfect photographic start to the day.
We made a few stops along the way to take in the stillness of False Bay. The view over Smitswinkel Bay never gets old. Especially on a day such as this.
There is no road down to Smits. I still cringe at the thought of carrying everything down the mountain to the houses. Bring me a helicopter I say.
By this time we were spot on to enter the reserve gates at opening time.
We took the drive straight to the car park at the lighthouse. A completely deserted parking area awaited us.
It was too early for the funicular. We took the walk up to the historic lighthouse overlooking False Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Still no breeze.
A walk down along the point of the peninsula along the cliffs to view the modern, working lighthouse.
An interesting side note on why there are two lighthouses at Cape Point. The top lighthouse is the original one. It was often shrouded in mist and low cloud. Building it on the highest spot on the point was not such a clever idea.
They built the second one lower down and closer to the actual point, underneath the clouds so to speak. This lighthouse is the most powerful in Africa.
Back to our walkabout. We had been in the reserve for about 2 hours. We hadn’t seen another soul. No one, not even any of the rangers or workers in the reserve. It felt like we had the entire place all to ourselves. It was surreal.
This of course is a result of the pandemic and travel bans. There are no international, and few local, tourists in Cape Town. This is not good for business. The sight of the usually bustling restaurant completely empty is a sad sight.
From there we drove down to The Cape of Good Hope. We encountered five people and three seals. This is one of the main tourist attractions in Cape Town – the southwestern tip of Africa.
There is something special about visiting Cape Point. It is the natural surroundings. It’s the silence. Especially during these pandemic times with so few tourists around.
Are you a keen photographer? Would you like to accompany me on one of these walks?
