Cape Point Nature Reserve- One point, a million points of view

The Cape Point Nature Reserve is a Natural World Heritage Sight which is located within the Table Mountain National Park. Named the “Cape of Storms” by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, the “Point” was used as a navigational landmark by day, but by night it was a menace tormented by violent storms and littered ship wrecks around the coastline. It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as the “Cape of Good Hope”, because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. The Cape of Good Hope is the legendary home of The Flying Dutchman, damned by ghostly sailors. 

As part of a practical for our LFS 151 group, we visited this beautiful landmark and had to make certain comparisons to the Cape Flats Nature Reserve. After a very long one hour trip, we had finally reached our destination.  We studied the different animal and plant species living in this area and had to state which reserve had a greater diversity of organisms. Various questions were answered in our first part of the excursion and we had to identify the different animal and plant species that occur in the reserve. There was an information center, which made the answering of these questions much easier. We discovered the different animal and plant species that occur in the Cape Point Nature Reserve, which include the Chacma Baboons, the Cape Mountain Zebra and Cape Grysbok. There are also more than 250 species of birds in this reserve. The main type of flora found in this reserve is Fynbos. The Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos is an endangered vegetation type that is endemic to the Cape Peninsula. An interesting fact about the Chacma Baboon is that they have developed a taste for seafood and adapted to eating this food. Unfortunately, we were not able to see these baboons or see them feed on any seafood. 

We visited the first lighthouse that stands 294metres above sea-level. It was built in 1859. I had an intense workout making my way up-hill to the lighthouse and it felt like a never-ending journey. Valuable information was found at the lighthouse, which we needed to answer our questions on our worksheet.
I also experienced my first time hiking up a mountain to Devil’s Island. Here, once again, I had an intense workout and did not even make it all the way to the top, because fear took over! At first I thought I could do it when I saw some older people doing it, but when I saw one of them fall, I did not even think twice before turning around. The wind became too strong afterwards and I had to make my way back to the bus. 

This was my first time visiting the Cape Point Nature Reserve and I would definitely do it again. The experiences in this lovely landmark would never be forgotten. New memories have been made with friends and this is a great example to show that work can also be made fun when doing it in a practical way. I just have to ensure that I am fir enough before climbing up any mountains or walking that up-hill path to the lighthouse!