Cape of Storms, Cape of Hope...

It is often cited as Africa’s most southerly cape, but the Cape of Good Hope is not positioned at the southernmost tip of the African continent. To reach that southern tip you need to travel 150km east to Agulhas: the actual demarcation of the maritime border which separates the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean. However, for the Portuguese explorers, led by Bartolomeu Dias, who travelled down alongside the African coast in 1488, it was the cape which symbolically marked the passage to the New World from the East.

It was for this reason that Vasco de Gama gave it the name ‘Good Hope’, having originally been named the Cape of Storms. It is also known locally as the Cape Doctor: a reference to the purity of its sea-spray which
couldn’t be more invigorating.

So a Cape of Hope it is then, but it’s also one of the most dangerous in the world: since many factors combine here, making it a passage feared by sailors. The violent, rampant winds and the hundreds of reported shipwrecks along the coast earned it the name Cape of Storms. The Peninsula, in occupying that latitude, is first in line to be affected by the extreme winds and huge Antarctic swells which conflict not only with the South African anticyclone but also the powerful Agulhas current, descending from the Indian Ocean.

Nowadays, this society’s overriding hope is to become a ‘rainbow nation’: to try to restore equality which for so long was suppressed by the apartheid regime. There is still a long way to go but everyone is committed. Of course, the disparities still exist and can sometimes even be shocking, but this country is multifaceted, and in our acquaintances and dealings, we have encountered a people who display a touching humanity.

For the Tara team, our technical stop off in this extraordinary place is also symbolic because it marks the end of the first year of the expedition, the end of the mission in the Indian Ocean and the continuation of the project in the Atlantic. We are able to persist in our collecting of oceanographic data and work is progressing to ensure the best possible conditions for both sailors and scientists. Research into our oceans’ biodiversity reveals a richness we still know too little about, and this greater understanding also contributes to the message of hope for their conservation.

Amélie Bétus