Rooikrans Angling Ledges Traditional Cache
SawaSawa: Enforced archive due to the most unfortunate and regrettable blanket ban on Cape Point caches
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
An easily accessible, short but exciting scramble along a steep trail down the side of red cliffs to a stunning viewpoint overlooking the ledges. However, not a walk for kids, for those who suffer vertigo or fear of heights and definitely not to be attempted on a windy day!
The ledges are world famous (in the angling community) but seldom visited and allow anglers to fish for pelagic fish (those that stay in the water column or near the surface and don't inhabit the ocean floor) like yellowtail and snoek in the deep waters immediately off shore.
Rooikrans is located inside Cape Point Nature Reserve near the southern tip just to the left off the roundabout about 3km before the end of the road leading to Cape Point car park.
Park at S 34 20.466 E 18 28.270 (Rooikrans Car Park), quickly check out the Whale-watch Viewpoint and then take the path heading east. It passes initially through fynbos bush but soon begins to descend ever more steeply down the steep red stone cliffs.
Further down, carefully descend a 7-8m rock scramble (just manageable on the backside!) and then a little further down as the path curves right at S 34 20.482 E 18 28.484 head to the left (west) up towards the foot of the rock face there.
The cache, a small white pharmaceutical container, is hidden at ground level between some large multicoloured (red, blue & green) rocks.
(Note added 27/12/11) Please note that (although it may be exciting for some folks and produce great photos) no risky scrambling around the cliffs is required to reach GZ!
Now take a few moments to take in the stunning location perched on the cliff above the ledges and sea with superb views along the coast to the north.
As the cache area is still 41m above the sea, I had obviously not reached the lower levels/ledges, which according to the stories linked below are only reached by some pretty hairy steps down a 10m cliff and using a rope at one stage. However, I had not spotted any obvious (alternative and safe!) way to go down any further and so had reached my own particular limit!
For some incredible photos and related stories of the area and of other fascinating (and often remote and relatively unknown) parts of Cape Point visit (visit link) . . ‘Bowed by the ages and shaped to an amphitheatre facing the sun, the third and lowest ledge at Rooikrans (or Rooikrantz) is all but inaccessible. Aeons are bared in the multicoloured rock strata looming above a stage featuring an age-old rockfall and a lavatory offering an extraordinary view . . .’
For an exciting story about a visit to the lower ledges, interactions with local fishermen and a helicopter rescue, visit (visit link) Rooikrantz Story . . . ‘There was, according to the weekly angling report in the Argus, a run of yellowtail at Rooikrantz. Yellowtail are not caught too often by surf fisherman like myself. You need to spin for them at places where you have access to deep blue water, places where rock falls sheer into the ocean. Rooikrantz, just inside the tip of Cape Point in the Good Hope reserve, is rated one of the best . . .’
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre n fznyy syng fgbar nobhg 1z sebz gur onfr bs gur ebpx snpr
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures