Umhlanga Lighthouse

Description

Visit a lighthouse on the Sugar Coast that once caused an un-nautical stir – draped in a condom!

The landlubber nonsense on Umhlanga's beach was all for a noble cause and brought a massive HIV-Aids awareness message on World Aids Day. The red and white 21-metre tall lighthouse was draped in fabric to resemble a giant condom and inscribed with the message 'Know your status'.

So what was the reason behind this controversial transformation? Iain Buchan from the Unlimited Child, an NGO working in the Valley of 1000 Hills, says they wanted to highlight the plight of Aids orphans.

“The feedback I've had so far from some of our people here has just been fantastic. We're getting people sending us SMSes, blogging, just saying it's incredible, the response and the awareness. And that's really what putting this condom on the lighthouse has done. It's kind of shaken people's awareness to say, 'ok this is different, and how can we get involved?'."

Now it’s business as usual for the Umhlanga Lighthouse, beaming out nightly signals visible to vessels as far as 24 nautical miles away. The fixed red light enables ships waiting to anchor in the outer anchorage to monitor their position. You will find this landmark near the end of Lighthouse Road in Umhlanga.

Umhlanga Lighthouse Map