The Flying Dutchman Funicular. Cape of Good Hope. South Africa.

The Flying Dutchman Funicular.			Cape of Good Hope South Africa.
	Magic Carpet Ride to the end of the world!
	Magic Carpet Ride to the end of the world!
	The electrically powered funicular railway is not only unique in design and
			Cape Point Tour.
	geometry, but also the first commercial funicular railway of its kind in Africa.
	The funicular is named after one of the Cape's most famous legends the "Flying Dutchman" ghost ship (read about this below). When one stands at the upper lighthouse at the tip of Cape Maclear and you look across the vast ocean one gets the strange feeling the you are at the end of the world. No doubt the drive through the Cape Point Nature Reserve with its unique scenery and magic fynbos display coupled with a rather dramatic and very efficient ride on the funicular add to the gravity of the occasion. The Flying Dutchmen Funicular is a cable drawn railway system that provides comfortable, quick transportation.
The funicular runs from the lower station at Cape Point through dense fynbos at a steep incline to the upper lighthouse. The environmentally-friendly funicular replaced the Flying Dutchman Diesel Bus which until December 1996 transported visitors to the top view site. Those that are more energetic can walk to the top, may we suggest that you save your energy for a much more enjoyable walk: from the upper lighthouse to Dias Outlook Point (Cape Maclear to Cape Point) and the lower lighthouse. Although the signboard for the walk says one and a half hours it is in fact a lot closer, more like 45 minutes to 1 hour. Six hundred people per hour can be transported at peak periods up the funicular, with maximum safety and minimum impact on the environment. The funicular still travels the same route that the Flying Dutchman bus service did years ago, in order not to disturb the natural slopes. The entire funicular has been produced from South African recourses and consists of twenty-seven different safety features that ensure practical and safe operation 24 hours a day.
Myths, Legends and Magic When one stand on the remarkable cliffs at Cape Point - this little finger of land that seems to divide the very horizon into two, you immediately understand that this is a place of legends and magic.
One of the Cape's most famous legends involves a ship named the Flying Dutchmen. In 1680, the vessel foundered whilst rounding the Cape in heavy weather. The Captain, Hendrik van der Decken, swore while his ship was sinking that he would round the Cape if it took him to doomsday. Some believe that he has kept his word, as over the years the Flying Dutchmen is said to have been sighted on many occasions. A well-known shipwreck is that of the Lusitania which struck Bellows Rock in thick fog at midnight on 18 April 1911. This was one of the reasons why the second lighthouse was built. If you have an interested in shipwrecks visit the Shipwreck of the Kakapoa, walking distance from Sunset Beach Guest House.



		Cape Point Tour


Some of the information on this page from the Cape Peninsula National Park, Cape of Good Hope brochure.

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