Cape Agulhas

Photographer Kim Wimberley travelled to the southernmost point in Africa, Cape Agulhas, in the southern Cape, in early Spring.

My husband Steve and I live in Durban, on the sunny east coast. We love travelling around our beautiful country, enjoying its lovely landscapes, mountainous areas, desert-like areas such as the Karoo, the sandy beaches and the craggy coastlines.

Recently, we travelled to Agulhas National Park, which is at the southernmost tip of Africa. This is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. It is a beautiful and tranquil place to spend a few days. The stylish cottages offer breathtaking sea views and radiant sunsets. It is soothing to fall asleep listening to the waves crashing upon the shore.

Besides the sandy beach, the area is covered in fynbos. Fynbos is a natural shrubland endemic to the Western Cape. The fynbos offer the most spectacular flowers. It is delightful walking amongst the fynbos, smelling the salty sea air and feeling the wind blowing in your hair. Living in the fynbos are fat-looking puffadders, which are highly venomous vipers. The one we encountered gave us a perfunctory hiss before slithering away.

This most southern coastline is known as the shipwreck coastline. The coastline is very craggy, the seas are very rough, and many a ship has been wrecked there. The kelp gulls like to roost on the shipwrecks. There are a few other species of shore birds, such as oystercatchers, sand plovers, terns and the unusual whimbrel.

The southernmost point of the continent is marked by a stone cairn, indicating where the two oceans meet. There is a large relief map of Africa near the cairn to help visitors contextualise the point.

The coastline is watched over by a lighthouse. There is a small museum at the foot of the lighthouse, enlightening visitors about the history of the area and the shipwrecks that have occurred there.

Cape Agulhas is a worthwhile area of South Africa to visit, a nearly unspoilt area of natural beauty.

Kim Wimberley