Chapman’s Peak Drive #1: Summit LookOut
(Previously called Chapman's Lookout v3.6 - now incorporated in the CPD series)
The third version of this cache is a replacement for the archived Chapman’s Lookout Revisited! (GC1ZVQ5) which was muggled, replaced and the muggled again! That cache was itself a replacement for the archived highly popular Larks cache Chapmans Lookout (GCYV1P) which also went AWOL. I felt I must again re-activate this cache spot which as Larks said is truly a Cape Town classic
To reach the cache:
You can approach the cache site from either end of the Drive – Hout Bay to the north or Noordhoek to the south. The advantage of the latter is that you may return from the cache site without paying any toll (now increased to R47 for cars) as the toll booth is down on the Hout Bay side.
Park at the LookOut parking area at S 34 04.654 E 18 21.422 which is a short distance ENE of the main viewpoint at S 34 04.655 E 18 21.385.
However the cache, a camo-taped plastic pot, is hidden at the eastern end of the main parking area.
It is located in one of the few spots in the area which may from time to time be out of direct eyesight of most of the main parking & viewpoint area and the usual gaggle of muggles (if that is the correct collective term).
*** Please watch out for muggles . . . and replace the cache carefully and correctly making sure it is securely tucked in to the rear of its hidey hole behind the rock***
The cache is situated at the highest point and best viewing spot of the spectacularly scenic 9km long Chapman’s Peak Drive (‘Chappies’) which only reopened on 9 October 2009 after being closed since 19 June 2008 ‘as a result of risk areas identified on the mountain above the road’.
This prolonged closure with repeated delays was the cause of great dissatisfaction with the management company among local residents whose lives and businesses were severely affected. On two occasions frustrated residents from both sides of the pass marched en masse in protest to the LookOut where a wire fence blocked the road – on one occasion cutting through the fence with wire-cutters!
The route, a masterpiece of road construction, was blasted into the mountain side between 1915-1922 and follows a soft band of shale between Chapman’s Peak’s granite base and the overlying sandstone.
The Drive comprises part of the route of two of South Africa's biggest mass-participation races, the Cape Argus Cycle Race and the Two Oceans Marathon. The former received special permission to re-open the road for the nearly 40,000 cyclists who participated in the event on 8 March, 2009 in winds of up to 90kph! Some were even immediately blown off their bikes when they first mounted up in central Cape Town !!
For complete information on the drive and surrounding areas visit the official website here which also gives current weather conditions. For other sites with interesting info, see here, here and here which is a Noordhoek blog site.
March 2022 update: on 6 May 2022, it will be the 100th anniversary of the opening of this iconic road. Various events are planned to celebrate this and a large ‘photo frame’ has been erected at the main viewing point (close to this cache) for visitors to take (competitive) selfies.
Some more QI info: The road featured in a couple of the big-budget epic TV ads in the 1990s. In the first, Mercedes shot a docu-style commercial (based on a true story) of 39 year old Christopher White who in 1988 plunged 100m over the cliff and survived.
This was soon followed by a BMW ad showing their driver negotiating the same stretch of road – safely – with the tagline: ‘BMW beats the bends’ (ie. the Benz!). This was removed immediately due to legalities of competitive advertising, but it created a national talking point and is still remembered to this day.
Subsequently, in 2018, Mercedes revisited the crash site after 30 years and the video covering this also features an interview with the lucky driver who was saved by his seatbelt – and a great deal of luck! (see here).
This is not the only occasion drivers have survived crashing off the drive. In 2016, a man survived after he left the road following an argument about paying the R42 toll fee and fleeing off at high speed. As recently as 17 February 2022, a woman survived with multiple injuries after her car plunged off the road on the Hout Bay side and burst into flames.
So, please take care when negotiating this beautiful but potentially treacherous road with its 114 bends – try not to admire the view (until you get to the viewpoint!) and focus on the road in front of you.
