The fair and stormy Cape

Time: 2-3 hours or 4-6 hours with lunch and swimming

Distance: 8 km

Entrance fee to Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve: R400 per adult for international visitors (valid until 31 Oct 2024)

The T. Tucker Shipwreck Trail starts inside the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, on the tip of the Cape Peninsula. When the Portugese explorer Bartholomew Dias reached the Cape in 1488 he named it the Cape of Storms. A total of 26 shipwrecks tell the story of how many ships sailed too close to land and crashed into the shallowly submerged rocks.

The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve covers 8000 hectares and has a coastline of over 40 km. There's a high chance of spotting bontebok antelope, eland antelope, baboon, tortoise, ostrich, otter - and whale bones. The trail hugs the rocky coastline down to the white beach. 

The SS Thomas T. Tucker was built by the US during Wold War 2 to carry troops and weapons. It was named after the first freed American slave. The ship wrecked on the rocks in 1942 because it was sailing too close to the shoreline to avoid detection by German submarines. 

Conservation and biodiversity is top of the list for the custodians of this pristine reserve. There are about 1000 different plant species within the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. The trail turns inland and joins up with the Sirkelsvlei trail. 

It may be too cold for some... but it's definitely refreshing to go for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean!