Great Fish Point:

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South African Lighthouse No. 10


The little lighthouse that could.


No, really. It's one of the smallest working lighthouses down here. It measures only 9 meters from top to bottom, but it packs a punch with its beacon light that can shine up to 32 nautical miles out to sea from its vantage point at the mouth of the Great Fish River.

[In case you were wondering, the Great Fish Point lighthouse qualifies as an active lighthouse, because "According to the Lighthouse Directory navigational beacons need to meet the requirements of standing at least 4 meters tall with a minimum surface area of a 4 square meter footprint..." (SA-Venues.com).]

Photo Credit: Leonora Parker on Flickr

After much delay, it was finally commissioned on 1 July 1898, and its lighthouse keepers & their families were part of the local community of Port Alfred since the late 1800's. Today, however, the lighthouse is fully automated and controlled from Port Elizabeth.

Luckily, this short, red-headed fellow in the tuxedo (as the locals refer to it) is one of four* lighthouses in South Africa that offers on-site accommodation for tourists.

*The other three are: Danger Point, Cape St Blaize, and Cape Columbine.

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