Today was my last day in South Africa, and it was busy. I woke early to pick up a hire car and set off immediately to drive down to Cape Point and the nearby Cape of Good Hope, about an hour and half south of the city. Unlike my previous experience driving in Cape Town, the road along the coast was very scenic and quiet. It went through several affluent suburbs before I reached Chapman’s Drive, a famously scenic toll road. It did not disappoint.

The Cape Point area is part of a large national park. I paid my entrance fee and drove in, as the views became more and more spectacular. I finally arrived at a car park below a lighthouse; I had reached the southwestern tip of the African continent.

To my left, miles and miles of stunning coastline presented itself in a 180-degree arc, first heading east and then further south – the southernmost point of Africa is in fact not Cape Point but Cape Agulhas, about 180km to the east. The Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet between these two capes.

A short distance to my right was the famous Cape of Good Hope. This marks the point where ships, having travelled thousands of kilometres down Africa’s Atlantic coast, finally begin to travel more east than south.

I walked up to the base of the lighthouse and stood admiring the view, whilst trying to keep my camera steady in the face of a ferocious wind. This area was quite busy with other tourists, but I soon found a small track to the old lighthouse, which was even closer to the tip of the point. This path was deserted, and when I got to the end, I was the only person there. The views – and the wind – were breath-taking.

After soaking in the panorama, I returned to the new lighthouse and took the more popular route to the Cape of Good Hope. On the way I spotted a group of elands, quietly browsing – I was very pleased, since at Etosha in Namibia I had only managed to see one of these animals in the far distance.

The path offered more brilliant scenery, before I got to the famous Cape.

I imagined the excitement of Bartolomeu Dias’ sailors as they finally reached this beautiful place and confirmed that there was an end to the African continent. Later I learnt that on their outward voyage they actually sailed further south, out of sight of land, and landed further east at Mossel Bay, only discovering the Cape on their way back.

I regained my car and headed to the exit of the park. On the way, there was an unusual traffic jam caused by a pair of ostriches and their chicks. I got of out my car to take photos, but soon realised I had taken a silly risk. The mother ostrich perceived me as a threat and approached me aggressively. I remembered what the guide at the ostrich farm had told me about the birds being able to kill with a single blow from their feet and hurried back to my car. Maybe I was lucky to be a small teddy, and less of a threat then a taller human, because mother ostrich did not pursue me.

After my close shave, I drove north for one last visit – to the penguin colony at Boulders. The site was very busy with penguins – and tourists. Visitors had to stay on a wooden walkway which went right over the beach where the colony was living. This allowed me to observe the birds much more closely than had been possible in Namibia and to take some great photos, albeit at the cost of having to endure a much more “touristy” experience with crowds of tour groups.

I returned to Cape Town along the same spectacular coast road that I had travelled in the morning, arriving just in time to return my car. It had been a brilliant day – pleasant driving, spectacular scenery, history, penguins, elands, and a close encounter with an ostrich.

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