55,412 views May 5, 2021
Source: Beyond The Cape Of Storms: Secrets of The Namib Desert – YouTube
55,412 views May 5, 2021
With West Africa mapped, Portuguese explorers continued down the coast, seeking the turning point of an eastbound route to India. Epic voyages revealed myriad cultures, thousands of miles of harsh terrain, and eventually, the southernmost tip of the continent–the Cape of Storms.
The Namib Desert flowing into the Atlantic is an eerily beautiful sight–one of many in Beyond the Cape of Storms. This stunningly executed historical documentary-travelogue traces Portuguese seafaring exploration of the uncharted African coastline during the last half of the 15th century. The video–the second in a four-volume series–combines citations from original travel logs, rare maps and illustrations, architectural sites, interviews with historians, and vivid film footage shot both on land and at sea. Footage from both restored and modern vessels reveals areas of coastline that look the same now as they must have half a millennium ago. The video also contains spectacular inland footage of the different provisioning locales. In each of these, local historians trace their communities’ history from the first Portuguese contact through the devastating era of slave deportations to the modern day. The result is a fascinating study of a critical era in maritime history and simultaneously an outstanding travelogue of coastal Ghana, Príncipe, São Tomé, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa.