The sea off South Africa’s coastline, particularly in the Southern Cape, is notorious for its dangerous winter storms, and Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of the continent, is no exception. This, of course, applied far more in the past when ships were entirely at the mercy of the wind.
In 1848, after a number of shipwrecks and fatalities, a lighthouse was built at Agulhas partly funded by the British government. It was designed in the Egyptian-revival style and featured a prominent chimney on either side of the lantern, an indication of its light source: for more than half a century its light was provided by a fire fuelled by the tallow rendered down from the fat-tailed sheep that roamed the area.
If you’re climbing fit and don’t suffer from vertigo, taking the 71 ladder steps to the top of the lighthouse is worth the effort, as is a visit to the museum if you have an interest in things nautical.
The path to reach the very tip of the continent, and the geographical location where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet, is beautifully built and maintained, and the raised walkway is wheelchair-friendly. There is an impressive monument with an 18m north-to-south relief map of Africa that invites people to walk on its undulating surface.
The lighthouse is surrounded by the little village of L’Agulhas, the only example in South Africa where a settlement has developed around a lighthouse. Struisbaai, with its long and beautiful beach, is about five minutes away by car.
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