Rooikrans II

Bowed by the ages and shaped to an amphitheatre facing the sun, the third and lowest ledge at Rooikrans (or Rooikrantz) is all but inaccessible. Aeons are bared in the multicoloured rock strata looming above a stage featuring an age-old rockfall and a lavatory offering an extraordinary view.

One of Cape Point's most visible landmarks, Lavatory Ledge is frequently photographed but seldom visited.


Whereas a walk at Rooikrans generally comprises meandering down through the strata marking time's slow passage across the foot of Africa, the three main sea-level fishing ledges are sheared, separated from each other by steep, tricky rock faces.

The steps to the lowest ledge start at the highest by way of a fifteen-foot wall scaled at the risk of a fall to the unforgiving rock of the middle ledge below. The wall has adequate foot and handholds, but you need to be shown them by an experienced fisherman. If you've no head for heights, don't try it.

A fall will almost certainly mean broken bones, a costly helicopter evacuation, and other people putting their lives in danger to pluck you from the cliff face.

Dropping from the middle to the lower ledge would be more tricky were it not for a handily placed rope that allows you to climb down and under the middle ledge, allowing for an easy drop on to Lavatory ledge.

Deserted, it's an awesome place. Aware of its visibility from further along the coast or across False Bay, its solitude is tangible. At low tide, it’s possible to explore the mussel beds, rocks and pools beneath the shade-giving ledge.

The toilet? I don't know, but I suspect bored fishermen of yesteryear. Bringing it, the piping, and suitable rocks in by boat should have been no problem. The joy — laced with brandy, Coke, fish and much laughter, must have been in its building rather than any relief it afforded.

Fittingly, the lavatory is not visible from any point away from the ledge and, if that proves anything, it's that the devil is always in the detail.