The Southernmost Point of Africa (I)

MARCH 2004 – The southernmost point of the African continent at Cape Agulhas, South Africa. Photo © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com

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The story behind the image

This is Cape Agulhas, where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet. Exciting, eh?

Cold, clear and blue water and many flat rocks. That’s about it. That’s Africa’s Southernmost Point! And of course tourists taking souvenir photos! (Not shown here.) But hey, the travel guide said: “Make your mark by taking a picture at Cape Agulhas showing that you, of all the teeming millions in Africa, were the southermost person for that instant in history!”

Here are some hard facts. The Cape is located 34°49’58” south and 20°00’12” east, and it can be found about 1 km west of the Cape Agulhas lighthouse. From here, it is 12,745 kilometers to New York!

By the way, for many years it was popular belief that the two oceans (i.e. Atlantic and Indian Ocean) meet somewhere near Cape of Good Hope. The truth is that Cape Agulhas is the official place where the two oceans meet!

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The high resolution image

Capture Date	17-MAR-2004
Location	Cape Agulhas, South Africa
Camera	Canon AE-1 Program
Lens	Canon FD 28mm f/2.8
Image Source	Fuji Slide Film
Digital Image Source	Minolta Dimage Scan Elite II
Digital Image Source Format	TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, AdobeRGB
Edited Image Format	JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB
Edited Image Dimensions	2473 x 3709 Pixels
Copyright	© by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com