Tag Archives: chapmans peak drive

#weekend coffeeshare: Cape Fires

#weekendcoffeeshare by Part Time Monster

If we were having coffee it would be a leisurely affair – no coffee on the go this week.

It’s been a week of photo blogging with WordPress’s Photo 101 course. I’ve enjoyed interacting with other bloggers in The Commons and posted every day. The post I most enjoyed writing was A Lullaby for my Senses, where the assignment was to play around with a photo’s orientation using the theme of Water.

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If we were having coffee I’d tell you about the Cape Peninsula fires that have devastated a large part of one of the most scenic parts of the Cape.  In January I was taken on a drive from Kalk Bay, past Noordhoek half-way up Chapman’s Peak. We stopped in the middle and looked over at Hout Bay. The photo below shows the view to Hout Bay from Chapman’s Peak a month ago.

View of Hout Bay from Chapmans Peak Drive
View of Hout Bay from Chapmans Peak Drive
View of Hout Bay from Chapmans Peak Drive
View of Hout Bay from Chapmans Peak Drive

This is what the area looks like now – click on the image or here for one of the many stories and photos.

Chapmans Peak Drive after the fire – photo from Globe and Mail article on Cape Wild Fire

So that blaze was controlled but more have sprung up. It’s exceptionally hot and dry in the Cape Peninsula – and thunderstorms have not helped quench the fires but have started new ones.

Firefighters, professional and volunteer, have worked many long hours, heroically. The communities have helped with keeping them sustained with food and drink. Sadly, a helicopter pilot was killed this morning when his chopper crashed while extinguishing a fire in Cape Point.

If we were having coffee I’d say that while fires happen every year, this year it’s been particularly devastating.