South Africa 2023

Thursday9November

New sunny day. We are still in Swellendam and more precisely in its cemetery which offers a nice panorama of the mountains.

The mountains join the green plain.

In the distance, a cow grazes in front of a tree so big that she seems not to see it...  

The cemetery.

Big field. Small house.  

We leave Swellendam. Heading for the very end of the African continent, Cape Agulhas! On the road, the landscape transforms more and more into agricultural fields.

Makeshift dwellings contrasting with the opulent neighborhoods where we were able to reside remind us of the heavy legacy of apartheid which has still not undone the gap between black and white populations of South Africa.

That's it, we arrive at the limits of the continent. Beyond this city, Africa gives way to the two oceans that come to unite here.

We distinguish in the distance the Agulhas lighthouse located precisely opposite the southernmost beach of the continent.

And here we are at the southern edge of Africa.

If you come here, you might see my QR code on the southernmost bin in Africa...  

The pebbles that have the privilege of being polished by two Oceans at once, the Atlantic and the Indian.

A sea urchin test, superb mineral architecture that animal life leaves us after its disappearance...

A southern rock agama (Agama atra).

Let's move on now to the Agulhas lighthouse.

Built in 1848, the lighthouse has stood here for 175 years. It was decommissioned in 1968 and declared a national monument in 1973 then restored and put back into service in 1988.

In exchange for a few rands, it is possible to go to the very top of the lighthouse.

And hop, here we are at the very top.

The lens that will activate tonight to direct its beam of light towards the oceans.

The two halogen bulbs.

The rust betrays the longevity of the lighthouse.

The view of the two oceans. On the left, the Indian. On the right, the Atlantic.

We take the car back and continue the road to our next stop. We arrive in Hermanus, a city famous for whale watching!

And we are not disappointed! Quickly, we spot the fin then the tail of one of the largest mammals on the planet.

And a much smaller mammal... The rock hyrax.

Walker Bay.

And hop, a small jump for the whale, a big jump for photographers. Even if the cetacean is far away from us.   But my lens zoom saves me... It is a southern right whale (Eubalena australis).

Coastal flora with an orphium frutescens.

Our accommodation facing the ocean for the night.

Friday10November

New day where we say goodbye to the whales who will not come to greet us...  

We pass through Bettys Bay, holiday resort of a small group of African penguins.

Part of the group prefers the concrete access ramp to the rocks next door.

The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is a species classified as endangered at risk of disappearing in the wild in the short or medium term.

A juvenile losing its down, which will allow it to be able to swim efficiently with new waterproof plumage.

The other part of the colony prefers rocks to concrete.

Man vs penguins.

On the neighboring point, a colony of cormorants has colonized the rock and its abandoned tower.

Portraits of the hare's-tail grass (Lagurus ovatus).  

Some discreet Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptiaca) have managed to find a quiet little corner on the beach.

Picnic in front of False Bay and Strandfontein beach.

We hit the road again to join another penguin colony at Simons Town Boulders Beach. We pass at the same time on the Cape Peninsula, piece of land 75 km long and 9 km wide, delimited to the north by Cape Town and to the south by the Cape of Good Hope.

The small town of Simon's Town shelters on its Boulders Beach, a small colony of African penguins. The beach is much more popular with tourists than Betty's Bay although you have to pay entry, the site being protected.

The public is kept at a distance from the colony. Suddenly, the place feels a bit artificial...  

And hop, we continue our exploration of the Cape Peninsula and arrive at the southern tip where the illustrious Cape of Good Hope is located. A famous cape with its guardians, chacma baboons (Papio ursinus).  

The south of the peninsula ends with two capes: Good Hope and Cape Point (the point of the cape) separated by two kilometers. We start with Cape Point where a 700-meter path leads us to the old lighthouse of the cape.

The little piece of land in the distance with its beach is the modest Cape of Good Hope.  

Last climb to reach the lighthouse.

The Atlantic paints a pretty watercolor around its rocks with its greenish water and white foam.  

A bas-relief reminds us that ostriches nest in the peninsula. And the sign reminds us of an episode of the Second World War: "It is on this site that a 10 cm transmitter/receiver of new design was hastily erected in 1943 in order to increase the detection range by allied convoys on attacks by enemy submarines (U-Boats). This post was managed by the South African Defence Force and the Special Signal Services (SSS). Later, the foundations were converted into this observation post."

Paris is 9294 km from here.

"This prefabricated cast iron tower was erected on the peak of Cape Point in 1859. The white light equivalent to 2000 candles could be seen by ships 67 kilometers offshore. The lighthouse proved ineffective as it was often covered by clouds and mist. After the shipwreck of the Portuguese liner "Lusitania" in 1911, it was decided to build the current lighthouse on Dias Point below, at 87 meters above sea level."

We take the car back to go to the Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point of the African continent according to what the sign wrongly says, since it is Cape Agulhas that holds this title.  

Short walk to climb to the top of the Cape.

Initially, the Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias, first navigator to open the way by the tip of Africa, had named it "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas) because of the difficult navigation conditions. King John II of Portugal changed the name to Good Hope for a more positive vision of the new passage to the Indies.

Opposite, the new Cape Point lighthouse erected in 1919.

And the old lighthouse where we were earlier.

The Sun will soon finish its descent. Time for us to reach the final stage of our trip: Cape Town!

That's it, here we are in our final resting place. A 3-room apartment ideally located in the city center at the top of the "Perspectives" tower.

The superb view of the second city of the country in number of inhabitants.

We will stay two days and two nights in the parliamentary capital of the country (Pretoria is the administrative capital and Bloemfontein the judicial capital).