Ca Mau Cape

On the map of Vietnam, the mainland runs south until it stops at a small point of land between the mangroves and the sea. That point is Cà Mau Cape. On arrival, what many people notice first is neither the scenery nor the monuments. It is a sense of position: they are standing at the very last point of the Vietnamese mainland.

The Cà Mau Cape National Tourist Area lies in the commune of Đất Mũi, in Cà Mau province. Its core development zone covers about 2,100 hectares. That zone sits within a planned area of about 20,100 hectares. At the heart of the sightseeing cluster is the Cà Mau Cape Cultural Tourism Park, where many of the landmark monuments of the Đất Mũi area stand together.

The first landmark many visitors seek out is the national coordinate marker GPS 0001. The marker was fixed in January 1995. It marks the southernmost point on the mainland, one of the four extreme points of Vietnam's territory. To lay a hand on it is to touch the far southern tip of this S-shaped strip of land.

Nearby stands the marker for the end of the Hồ Chí Minh Highway, at kilometer 2,436. Its central pillar rises more than 18 meters, with two reliefs made of ceramic. If GPS 0001 tells a story about geographic coordinates, the kilometer 2,436 marker tells a story about a journey that stretches the country from north to south.

The Hanoi Flag Tower at Cà Mau Cape is the third place worth a pause. Construction began on January 16, 2016. The tower stands more than 40 meters tall, on a site of more than 16,000 square meters. It was built in the style of the original Flag Tower in the capital. It is a token of affection from Hanoi to the southernmost land of the country, and a symbol of the idea that North and South are one family.

Then come the ship sculpture of Cà Mau Cape, pointing out to the open sea, and the Cà Mau crab sculpture. There is also a temple to Lạc Long Quân, a sea dragon lord of Vietnamese legend. Close by, facing the sea, stands a statue of Mother Âu Cơ, a mountain princess of Vietnamese legend. Together these works form a space that tells several stories at once: geography, history, love of homeland, and a bond with the sea.

Behind those landmark monuments, though, lies one of the most important ecosystems in Vietnam.

UNESCO recognized the Cà Mau Cape Biosphere Reserve in 2009. In all, it covers more than 371,000 hectares. UNESCO describes it as a place of tropical wetlands, with mangrove forests, melaleuca forests on peat soil, and coastal marine habitats. UNESCO also stresses one special detail. Cà Mau Cape is the only place in Vietnam where two tidal regimes interact. One tide comes in from the sea to the east, the other from the sea to the west. The two meet and drive the buildup of sediment, forming mudflats and new habitats. That is why the land here does not stand still. It keeps changing over time.

Cà Mau Cape National Park is Ramsar site number 2,088 in the world. On the Ramsar list, it covers 41,862 hectares. Ramsar is the international convention on wetlands of international importance. When a place joins the Ramsar list, its ecological value is recognized as special, not only for one country but for the whole world.

The mangroves of Cà Mau Cape do real work. They hold the soil, break the waves, and give many creatures places to breed and shelter. The park has 93 bird species. It also lists 26 species of mammals and 43 species of reptiles. There are also 9 species of amphibians and 233 aquatic species.

A boat trip through the forest, by speedboat or small motorboat, carries a visitor from the park of monuments into a living ecosystem. Canals wind beneath the canopy of mangrove trees. Oyster farms sit beside the mudflats. At a stop called Giếng Trời, light slips down through the roof of the mangrove forest.

Look toward the mangroves and the mudflats still wet with silt, and something worth remembering appears. The ground ahead did not exist a few centuries ago. The two tides meet, the silt settles, and the land keeps growing out into the sea. Cà Mau Cape is not only the end of the map. It is a place where the map is still being written.