Cape Agulhas

L'Agulhas is the southernmost settlement in Africa, 30 kilometres south of Bredasdorp on the Agulhas Plain. The name comes from the Portuguese word for needles, a reference to the needle-like rocks and the magnetic anomaly that confused early navigators whose compasses showed no variation here. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to round the cape in the late 1400s.

What stands at the tip today is a simple granite monument, a plaque marking the meeting point of the two oceans, and the Agulhas Lighthouse built in 1848. The lighthouse is the second oldest working lighthouse in South Africa and is open to the public. On a clear day from the top you can see the coastline curving away in both directions. The surrounding shore is boulder fields and fynbos, not beach. It is a working coastline, not a resort.

The town itself is a quiet holiday village with a few streets of modest houses, a shop, a couple of restaurants, and accommodation options running from caravan park to guesthouse. The rocky intertidal zone around the point is rich with marine life. The Agulhas National Park protects the surrounding coastal fynbos. Whale watching is good from July to December from the cliff paths near the lighthouse.

There is a particular kind of stillness at the tip on a windless morning. Standing at the bottom of Africa with nothing between you and Antarctica. The monument is not grand. It does not need to be.