Cabo da Roca is the western-most point of continental Europe and therefore, this South African feels a little bit at home here. Why? Because its windy, has a lighthouse, a shop selling icecream and wild seas threatening to smash you to bits should you venture too close to the shore… very much like my own southern-most point of Africa, Cape Agulhas.

And the connection between these two wild capes runs deeper than than what meets the eye; the name Cape Agulhas means “Cape of Needles” in Portuguese, and was named as such by the first Portuguese navigators to sail past the southern-most point of Africa on their journey to discover a route to India. The name refers to the needle on their compass which changed direction as they rounded the cape, indicating that they weren’t heading south anymore, they were now sailing north, towards Asia…

So now you know.