The inscription on the plaque at the centre of the shot above tells you (in Afrikaans and English) that here, at Cape L’Agulhas, you are standing at the southern-most tip of the African continent. Beyond these rocks is only water – and ultimately the Antarctic – and this is also the point where the Indian ocean meets the Atlantic.
A few metres inland from the marker stone is a giant 3-dimensional map of Africa, nicely underpinning the geography lesson.
Cape L’Agulhas’ lighthouse is just under a kilometre away. It was the third one to be built in South Africa. It is still operating and also houses a museum.
We were lucky to be here at the right time to see these lovely amaryllids in flower – the locals call them ‘April Fools’ (because of their flowering season, which starts around the middle of March).
Our guide book told us that there was a good chance to see South Africa’s national bird, the (rare) Blue Crane, in the fields around the area. We did not have to look very hard to find some.
The nearby town of L’Agulhas has a number of restaurants and cafés.
The café pictured below claims to be Africa’s southern-most. It appears to be a valid claim, but it beats one of its competitors by only a few metres.
Cape L’Agulhas, at least outside geographers’ circles, is probably not as well known as the Cape of Good Hope. The latter lies just south of Cape Town, some 170km away, and is the continent’s most south-western point.
