Chapman’s Peak Drive

Panoramic Route Cape Town, South Africa

The peak that looms overhead is named not after a governor or a brave hillman, but a pilot of a low ship. In 1607, the captain of the British ship Contest discovered that his vessel would be staying in what is now Hout Bay and sent his pilot, John Chapman, to call ashore in the hope of finding provisions. The pilot later registered the bay as Chapman's Chaunce (case) and the name stuck, becoming official in all East Indian charts.