Pointe des Almadies
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Pointe des Almadies is the westernmost point on the continent of Africa. Pointe des Almadies is located on the northwestern end of the Cap Vert peninsula in Senegal.
Environs
Pointe des Almadies lies within the greater Dakar urban area near Isles des Madeleines National Park and past the Les Mamelles hills from the village of N'gor and the town of Yoff.
Pointe des Almadies is a 30 minutes trip from downtown Dakar, Senegal's capital city, and is served by local transportation. The site itself is approximately five kilometers from the Dakar-Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport. The Hôtel Méridien Présidentiel, the country's leading hotel and a major conference centre, is located at Pointe des Almadies.
Ecology
An oceanic front exists in the waters off Pointe des Allmadies. The waters of the equatorial northern flank are measurably warmer than the southern flank, with differences of two to three degrees Celsius. This causes differences in water chlorophyll levels, and resultant differences in fish abundance on different sides of the peninsula.
Maritime boundary determination
Pointe des Almadies served an important role in a 1985 ruling that determined the maritime boundary between the nearby countries of Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Both Guinea and Guinea-Bissau have short coastlines, so an international tribunal measured the general trend of the central West African coast from landmarks in the adjacent countries Senegal and Sierra Leone. Pointe des Almadies marks the northwestern point of reference and Cape Schilling in Sierra Leone marks the southeastern point of reference. The maritime boundary between Guinea and Guinea-Bissau extends in a direction perpendicular to a line connecting the relative positions of these two landmarks.
Surf
The Almadies peninsula was a featured location in the 1964 film The Endless Summer where Bruce Brown shot the film's stars Mike Hynson and Robert August at a reef near Pointe des Almadies. The best surfing in Senegal is on the peninsula, with locations within walking distance on both the north and south sides of the peninusla. Peak season is November through May.
