Southernmost Tip of Africa
L’Agulhas, the southernmost town in Africa, is located in the Western Cape just north of Cape Agulhas.
The cape was named by Portuguese explorers who called it Cabo das Agulhas — “Cape of Needles” — after noticing that their compass readings showed no deviation from true north and magnetic north.
The Southernmost Tip of Africa has been on my list of need-to-dos for quite sometime now.
I needed to stand on the southern tip of the African continent and see where two oceans collide.
And in October 2015, my 6th visit to South Africa, I did!
Getting there is easy, however you may need to drive along a few dirt roads on your journey.
This is completely normal so don’t worry that you might be going in the wrong direction.
As you drive into town you’ll see Cape Agulhas Lighthouse in the distance.
Cape Agulhas Lighthouse is the icon that symbolizes the tip of Africa.
The parking lot is at the base of the lighthouse.
A boardwalk connects the lighthouse to the Southernmost Tip of Africa:
It’s an easy 1 kilometer walk.
Along the way you’ll see many locals fishing:
And waves crashing against colorful rocks.
We were there on a Sunday afternoon and feared we’d have to fight the crowds, but there were only about 10 of us there and everyone kindly took turns taking photos.
Needless to say I was overjoyed when it was my turn:
I couldn’t help myself . . . I had to hop up there.
The Southernmost Tip of Africa with the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Indian Ocean on the east.
The thought of this still excites me.
The drive from Cape Town will take about 2 1/2 hours, but L’Agulhas can also be easily reached from South Africa’s famous Cape Whale Route.
Please put this on your list of need-to-dos.
You will be so happy you did!