Tag Archives: table bay

Hiking Lion’s Head from Signal Hill

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Signal hill, a view from Lion's Head
Friends enticed us into walking up Lion's Head on Friday evening. Truth be told, they never had to convince us - just look at the view!

We only arrived at about 19h00, a little later than we'd hoped. By that time our friends had already walked about 70% of the way up to the top, and we'd driven about a kilometer past the start of the hike to find a spot to park. We knew that we wouldn't make it to the top by sunset, so we decided to take a different route, around the right side of Lion's Head - starting from Signal Hill.

The route we took was quite a long, comfortable, footpath that winds around the top of Sea Point and Bantry Bay, finally taking a steep switchback route to meet up with the main path to reach the summit. This photo was taken on the switchback, just before reaching the main path.

I'll post a few more pics in the next day or two. It really was a pretty pretty sunset from above.

A table top mountain

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A table top mountain
It would be super-weird if we one day awoke to a flat landscape, without the iconic Table Mountain to greet us. The mountain's like a huge compass that Capetonians, and visitors I guess, use to orientate themselves.

And this get's me thinking - I wonder if the reason that traffic's a complete disaster in cloudy-rainy weather isn't perhaps because we lose sight of the mountain? ;)

Clear skies and Table Bay harbour

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Clear skies and Table Bay harbour
After a week or more of grey skies and rain the sun's come out and it's been perfect weather to explore Cape Town, and in my case wander around at the V&A Waterfront.

I love the clear skies, windless days, and warm sun rays at this time of the year - the only thing that I really don't like about sunny winter days like this is that it gets intensely cold really early in the evening.

This is Africa and I'm not made for the cold. :-/

Table Mountain and the New 7 Wonders of Nature

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Table Mountain and the New 7 Wonders of Nature
By now you may have heard that Table Mountain was voted to be one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Even I (as a citizen of Cape Town) was surprised at the credentials that earned the mountain this title. Three of the many reasons that make Table Mountain deserving are that:

  • it is one of the oldest mountains on the planet - around 260 million years old!
  • it is the only terrestrial feature on our planet to have a constellation named after it. The Mensa constellation was given the name Mons Mensae (the Latin name for Table Mountain) by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1754.
  • as part of the Cape Floral Region it was named a World Heritage Site in 2004 for being one of the smallest and richest of the six floral kingdoms of the world supporting about 8,200 rare and endangered plant species.

The Official New7Wonders of Nature was established to raise awareness of the diversity and beauty of nature in a hope to increase tourism and hence funding to preserve the natural beauty of landmarks like Table Mountain.

Table Mountain trip : The city view (8#10)

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Cape Town from Table Mountain
In case you missed it, see the previous post in this series.

How many cities in the world are so perfectly located? Cape Town finds herself on the edge of the large bay known as Table Bay, and she's cradled by Signal Hill, Lion's Head, Table Mountain and Devil's Peak.

Take a moment to click on the photo to see a large version. Where in the world have you seen a city that has a tall flat-top mountain that's so easily accessable to everyone visiting her? It's not often that cities have such a prominent structure that rises 1km into the sky and gives visitors a 360° aerial perspective of the city. We're truely priveledged to live in a city built on the slopes of Table Mountain.
I know that I may sound awfully dramatic (and perhaps a little over-exited), but no matter how many times I'm go up there, I never get tired or blasé about the view from the top. It's truly and amazing perspective on the city.