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Young World
Hope for the mariners
Despite having read and studied so much about the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, nothing prepares one for the spectacular colours of the oceans. And where the two oceans meet is a deceptive calm leaving you wondering whether it could ever have been termed the Cape of Storms. Situated at the junction of two of the earths most contrasting water bodies, the cold Benguela current on the West Coast and the warm Agulhas current on the East coast, the Cape of Good Hope is popularly perceived as the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Geographically, however the Indian Ocean joins the Atlantic Ocean at the Cape Agulhas.Standing at the view point at Cape Point the distinction is clear. On one side of the tip is the bright blue of the cold Atlantic Ocean and the other is warm blue green of the Indian Ocean. The wind that brushes past your cheek is cold and makes you shiver, but then again the warmth of the sun is comforting.
The Cape Peninsula has a long and eventful history. Prehistoric people first left their mark here more than 600,000 years ago and traces of the tools of these Early Stone Age hunter-gatherers have been found in a wind-scoured depression near the Cape of Good Hope. The Middle Stone Age inhabitants (dating from 200,000 to 40,000 years ago) also left evidence of their life on the Peninsula.
There are six sites, where artefacts, including scrapers and fragments of worked stone, dating from this period have been found and more than a 100 sites where signs of Late Stone Age habitation (from about 21,000 years ago) are evident. The San (or Bushmen) hunter-gatherers relied on the seashore for most of their food and are known colloquially as the strandlopers or beachwalkers.
Middens (prehistoric refuse heaps) created by the strandlopers are found in a number of caves in the park and reveal a great deal about their lifestyle.
About 2000 years ago the Khoikhoi migrated from the north, displacing the San, bringing with them their herds of cattle and sheep. It was the Khoikhoi who were the dominant tribe when the Europeans sailed into Table Bay.
In 1487 the explorer Bartolomeu Dias set sail from Portugal to find a sea route to the riches of the East. With a fleet of three ships he sailed down the west coast of Africa, but before reaching the Cape he was caught in a storm and driven from the shore.
When the storm abated they sailed east believing they would again sight the west coast. However after sailing for several days and not sighting land they turned north and made landfall at the mouth of the river Gouritz, on the east coast on February 3, 1488. They had unwittingly rounded the Cape of Good Hope - the first Europeans on record to do so. On his return he landed at Hout Bay.
Some historians claim it was Dias who named the Cape Cabo Tormentosa or "Cape of Storms" alluding to the tempest he had endured, but changed it to Cabo de Boa Esperanca, the "Cape of Good Hope", to please the king of Portugal, as rounding the Cape provided hope of a sea route to the East.
It was a full 10 years later that Vasco da Gama set sail from Portugal, rounded the Cape and reached India, making him the first person to open the sea route from Europe to the East and proving that rounding the Cape of Good Hope did indeed provide hope of reaching the riches of the East.
Commemorative crosses have been erected to honour Dias and Da Gama at Bordjiesrif and near Platboom, respectively, in the Cape of Good Hope.Ever since this has been a landmark for mariners where seafarers could seek shelter and take aboard fresh supplies of water and meat bartered from the Khoikhoi.
Attempts at protecting and preserving the Cape's beautiful flora and fauna can be traced back to these Dutch settlers. The local authority proclaimed the area a nature reserve in 1938. The strategic position of the Cape of Good Hope between two major oceans, ensures a rich diversity of marine life. There is a difference between the sea life west of Cape Point and that to the east, because of the marked difference in temperature.
NIMI KURIAN
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