Saturday, January 19, 2008

Cape Point




Posted by PicasaCape Point was a powerful experience, more powerful than I expected. We bought tickets to ride to the top of the hill facing Cape Point, where the lighthouse is located that looks over the Cape of Good Hope. From the top, you can see forever in every direction. They have a post at the top that points to Antarctica, New York, Jerusalem, etc. This is the point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet, and the rocky turbulent waters created by two oceans of different temperatures and different depths are the waters that were so dreaded by sailors traveling from Europe to India. I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if it had not been possible to navigate those waters and the spice trade had not begun - is it naive to wonder if maybe then the slave trade would not have begun, or colonialism as we know it? How much of our history was determined by being able to pass ships by the Cape of Good Hope? I don't know. But it is a historic point, and strikingly beautiful.

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