Cape Peninsula Day Tour

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Springbok Atlas offers a diverse range of holiday tours and self-drive packages. The one day Cape Peninsula tour starts at 9am and finishes at 5pm. The tour covers Hout Bay with an 1/2 hour Duiker Island boat trip (optional and for own account), Chapman’s Peak, The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, Cape Point. On the return to Cape Town see the Jackass Penguins via Simon’s Town, Fish Hoek, Muizenberg, and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

Chapmans Peak Drive was the brain child of Sir Frederic de Waal, (De Wall drive)the first administrator of the Cape Province.

Work began in 1915 after engineers, geologists and surveyors determined the best route along the soft band of shale between the mountain’s granite base and the overlying sandstone. This stretch was blasted into the mountain side and is a masterpiece of road construction. The route was formally opened 1922.

Rock falls were a threat and a series of unfortunate events lead to the closing of Chapman’s Peak Drive in January 2000. While closed, this spectacular roadway denied the traveller some of the best scenery in the Cape Peninsula. The closure had a severe impact on the economy of the Houtbay and had a serious impact on the productivity of all who did business and/or lived in the area.

Due to its sensitive location within the Cape Peninsula National Park and the provisions of Sections 23 and 24 of the National Environmental Management Act, No 107 of 1998, an integrated environmental approach to the rehabilitation and upgrading of Chapman's Peak Drive was warranted.

The Chapman’s Peak Construction Joint Ventur, R145 million project was overseen by Entilini Concessions, the special-purpose company established by the consortium of Concor Holdings, Haw & Inglis and Marib Holdings. Undertaken with full participation of the local authorities and communities.

The reopening of Chapman’s Peak Drive is the culmination of one of the most innovative road engineering projects ever to be undertaken in South Africa. The upgrading (or rather reconstruction) of Chapman’s Peak Drive is indeed an engineering feat that will for many years be regarded as one of the top road engineering projects in the country.

Chapman’s Peak Drive was re-opened in 2003 as a toll road.