#1: [02-Sep-02]

#3: [20-Apr-14] (incomplete)

#2: [18-Dec-07] (incomplete)

31-Jan-2021 -- After spending a vacation in Namibia and South Africa we decided not to return to Zurich, but rather stay in Cape Town for a while. We currently live in a fully equipped rental house in Camps Bay and enjoy the summer in the southern hemisphere. At the time of writing, South Africa faces lockdown level 3, which means that beaches are closed, alcohol is forbitten and after 9 PM is a curfew. However, this is by far the better option compared to the full lockdown in Europe.

While working during the week, we have time to make excursions on the weekends. This Saturday, we visited the West Coast National Park and spent the night in a hotel in Langbaan.

The next morning, we drove the remaining 15 km to the confluence point. My plan was to park our car about 1 km east of the confluence and then walk over the dunes to the confluence. I should note that this confluence point has a very special location right next to the fence of the giant Saldanha Iron Ore Terminal, the largest natural, deep-water port in the Southern Hemisphere. The Iron Ore Terminal is the largest iron ore export facility in Africa and South Africa’s only dedicated iron ore terminal. From the satellite view it looks very interesting with several giant cranes and huge piles of ore.

My plan didn’t work out, because the road to my starting point was fenced off. We drove along the fence and found the minimal public distance to be 900 m to the confluence. Here we took the cardinal direction pictures.

This was of course not satisfactory. We drove to the official entry gate to ask for permission of entry. I was quite sure that we would not get in as permission into such a special area requires a lot of afford and planning beforehand. But the guards at the gate said we could get in. We already passed the gate, when one guard called us back with the request to see our IDs. I guess it didn’t matter that we had foreign passports, but I made the mistake to say the word “tourist”. Then everything was over. I should have said that we are from the “Confluence Project” and that we have to urgently visit one of our project points which is here in the facility.

Now we gave up and spent the rest of the day in the touristic town of Paternoster.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to a road: 0 m
• Distance to a track: 0 m
• Distance of car parking: 425 m
• Time to reach the turnaround from the main road: 10 min
• Time at the turnatound: 10:49 AM
• Measured height: 11 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 425 m
• Position accuracy: 5 m
• Topography: hilly
• Weather: mostly sunny, 25° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The Ore Terminal Confluence