In my search for the Lighthouse of the Week, I strive to find them in many different places. Now, I know that I likely haven't featured two-thirds or so of the lighthouses in the United States yet. But I like to keep it diverse. So I contemplated where in the world I had not yet considered for lighthouse locations, thinking coastally, and I came up with South Africa.
And as I expected, South Africa has lighthouses. In fact, it has a lot of lighthouses -- so many that the amazing Lighthouse Directory has to have separate pages for western and eastern South Africa.
I quickly decided to feature the Cape Agulhas lighthouse, which has as its most prominent talking point that it is located on the southernmost point of continental Africa. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out where that is, but if you want to see it, I have a Google map link right here.
It was easy to find out that Cape Agulhas is the second oldest lighthouse still operating in South Africa. It's a well-designed and symmetrical structure. Here's a bit more about it:
"1849. Reactivated (inactive 1968-1988); focal plane 31 m (102 ft); white flash every 5 s. 27 m (89 ft) sandstone tower with lantern and gallery, rising through the center of a 1-story keeper's house. Rotating 1st order Fresnel lens in use. Building painted white with two red horizontal bands on the tower.
This is South Africa's third oldest light station and second oldest surviving lighthouse (after Green Point). The lighthouse marks the southernmost point of Africa at latitude 34°50' S and the junction of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at longtitude 20°01' E; the ultimate tip of the continent is 1 km (0.6 mi) west southwest of the lighthouse. This historic light, surely one of the world's great lighthouses, was deactivated in 1968 when deterioration of the sandstone walls made the tower appear unsafe. Twenty years of public effort led by the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum secured a complete restoration and reactivation in 1988."
Not a bad choice for Lighthouse of the Week, I think.
But what really determines it are the pictures. Here they are:
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| by Eduan Hayman |
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| Click on this for a larger image, it's worth it |
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| by Tony Whitehead |
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