In 2001 I stepped off a Russian cargo jet onto a runway made of ice. Until then, getting from Cape Town to the Antarctic ice took a month by sea. We did it in about six hours. The aircraft was an Ilyushin Il-76, and we landed on the blue ice at Novolazarevskaya in Queen Maud Land. Two days later, we were home in Cape Town. Even now, that difference is hard to take in. A month at sea against a few hours in the air. It changed what was possible for anyone who needed to reach th

Most people who visit Cape Point leave believing something that isn't true. They stand at the lighthouse, look out over the water and say: this is where the two oceans meet. It is a lovely thought. It is also wrong. The real meeting point lies about 150 kilometres further east, at Cape Agulhas. That is the true southern tip of Africa, and it is where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean officially meet. Cape Point is dramatic and beautiful, and it deserves every visitor it gets.