Kerry-Anne and I decided to walk one of the hiking trails, The Golden Mole trail. Take a look at the route that I recorded using Map May Run.
It costs only R12.50 to enter the nature reserve. Visit The Friends of Tygerberg Hills's website for information about organised hikes. Note that Tygerberg Hill has two entrances, the one I showed in my map, and another in Plattekloof, lower down and on the other side of the hill.
If you look carefully you can faintly see the white buildings on the right side of the photo, almost in the middle. While trails had arrows and were marked "Hillcrest", we weren't sure which trail would be the shortest. It's almost impossible to see where trails lead and basically ends up being a flip of a coin that causes one to choose a 30 minute walk back over a 3 hour hike over hills and down dales.
If you're keen to amble though the vineyards, along one of the trails, arrive by 8am, take an exploratory walk through the vineyards, and end off the outing by visiting the estate's restaurant for breakfast. Be sure to take plenty of sunscreen and water along - it's surprisingly easy for a quick walk to turn into a two-hour trek.
There are a few short hiking trails in this area - and since you're so close to the city, it's quite difficult to get very lost. Take at least a litre of water along per person, a warm top, and a pair of closed shoes. Also, hike in groups of three or four... our nature borders on a city, after all.
Save, and keep handy, the Mountain Club of South Africa's number (+27 21 937 0300) as well as the number for crime-related incidents (+27 86 110 6417) on your mobile phone. Those numbers may come in super handy some day. There are a few other numbers here, but they seem to be two individual's personal mobile numbers, so I'll rather just link to the MSCA page.
I normally drive to the lower cable station, drop off my passengers, and continue past, where there's normally parking about 500 meters up the road.
One thing to bear in mind when you plan a trip up Table Mountain is to buy your tickets online from the official Table Mountain Aerial Cableway site. You'll get a 10% discount and get to skip the last part of the queue - just like the VIP you are. ;)
The quarry was super-quiet inside and surrounded by sheer rockfaces - there were huge boulders on the ground, patches of neat grass, and a handful of rock climbers practicing their skill quite high up against the rockface. It was quite different to the hiking trail that we'd just been on!
When we arrived this time I discovered a large metal door in my path and this slightly-defaced sign indicating that the quarry had been closed to the public. I also happened to notice a small pathway leading up and around the quarry to a spot that rock climbers (including the one I spotted descending from the pathway) seem still to make use of.
It's sad that the area had to be restricted. I'm guessing that it could have been closed off because the quarry was so secluded that it may have been dangerous for people to spend time inside. It's sad, but the unfortunate reality of having that kind of area near on the perimeter of a large city.
Unlike the beaches on this stretch of coastline, the beaches that back on to Table Mountain have nooks that are perfectly sheltered from the wind, so there's always a spot to sunbathe in peace - even with Cape Town's infamous wind gusts across the peninsula! :)
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.
It's difficult for me to imagine that a cable car of this size is able to fit 65 people. Once everyone's inside there's not a lot of place to move around, but fortunately there's enough space so that it doesn't feel as though you're a sardine in a tin!
I think the robot is pretty awesome, but can you imagine how much the company must be paying the V&A Waterfront to advertise their brand with such a huge 3D billboard?
Did you know that the Coca-Cola company is 125 years old and that soft-drink was originally sold as a medicine?! Isn't that just crazy?!
We stopped here, in Vredehoek, at about 10am for our first stop of the day - breakfast at Woodlands Eatery. However, even though the information we found said that they were open from 9am - they appeared not to be open - the door was closed and there was nobody in sight.
Even though we were disappointed, Kerry-Anne heard that Woodlands is a great restaurant, so I'm pretty sure that we'll be back to give them a try soon enough. :)
Although one may imagine this to be a tragedy, it wasn't all bad because Stanley's flattened state allowed him to travel the world very economically - in an envelope. Cristin (class mom of her son's first-grade class in New York) sent Michael M's flat Stanley for a visit to Cape Town and this photo is from a small outing that we went on to show Stanley Table Mountain at sunset.
On the left, in the distance, is Table Mountain covered with it's well-known table cloth, a sheet of cloud that often covers the mountain. If you haven't seen her up close before, click here to see Table Mountain without its cloudy covering.
To the right of Table Mountain is Lion's Head (so named because from a particular angle it looks somewhat like a lion's head), and a smaller hill known as Signal Hill.
Fortunately (well, unfortunately actually) the bike attached to the Wheel of Excellence wasn't a prank. Rather, the bike was an advertisement by the wheel's sponsor, The Cape Epic - an annual MTB race which (this year) started on the 27th of March and ended on the 3rd of April seeing about 1200 entrants complete a 707km journey. And wait for it... wait for it...
Now that's epic! :P
This photo of the cable car reminds me of a couple of years ago when the cable way offered adrenaline junkies the opportunity to bunjee jump from the car. Can you imagine being suspended half way between the upper and lower cable stations, stepping up to the open door, and diving out head first? What a rush hey!?
Table Mountain is competing to be included as one of the New7Wonders of Nature. If you think she's worthy of being included in the seven then please visit votefortablemountain.com and cast your vote! Thanks. :)
When viewing Table Mountain from it's post-card perspective, Devil's Peak (the subject of today's photo) is the tall pointy mountain located on the left side of Table Mountain. Based on this photo, you may be surprised to find out that even though it doesn't look that way, at 1000m above sea level, Devil's Peak is a mere 87 meters shorter than Table Mountain!
Just like Table Mountain, one is able to hike to the top of Devil's Peak. However, apparently it's only really safe to hike up the peak from it's western front - from the saddle between it and Table Mountain... and then only by experienced hikers, not casual walkers. :)
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.
Kerry-Anne and I once spent a chilly new year's eve on top of Table Mountain - it really does get pretty cold up there at night. If you ever have the opportunity to go up the mountain at night, I'd highly recommend it. Only, try to get up before the sun sets and bargain on spending about two or three hours up top... with a warm jacket!
The city lights look absolutely beautiful from the top of the mountain at night. Take a look at this 360° photo taken by Lee Casalena from the top of Lion's Head (which you can see in this photo). Isn't it awesome? Imagine seeing this in real life!
If you've ever wondered; besides for the small section occupied by the cable station, restaurant and curio shop, this photo more or less represents what the entire top of Table Mountain looks like - well, the flat part at least.
It's not quite that clear in this photo, but the mountain (especially within the first 100m of the cable station) has many specially layed-out paths made from flat pieces of rock. Can you see them in the middle of this photo?
Slightly to the right of the view shown in my previous post is this perspective of the up-market suburb of Camps Bay. The houses (and especially the beach-front ones) are worth several million Rands.
After looking more closely at this photo I discovered a couple of interesting things that I'd like to draw your attention to:
This is the view that meets you as you leave Table Mountain's the upper cable station - the Atlantic ocean with the Twelve Apostles mountain range stretching into the distance. Isn't it a beautiful view?
I took a similar photo as the sun was setting about two years ago, and based on that experience I'd definitely recommend an early evening trip up the mountain (especially if it's a warm and windless evening), it's one of the most beautiful views of the sun setting over the ocean. A word of caution though - always take a warm top or jacket along no matter how warm it seems at the lower cable station - it get's kinda cool 1KM up in the sky. :)
The view from the cable car is quite unlike any other. The feeling of quickly rising up from the lower cable station to this majestic view is incredible.
To the left in the photo is Lion's Head, with Signal Hill stretching off to the right (just behind the stadium built for the 2010 football world cup) and way way in the distance, right in the middle, you can see the spot in the ocean known as Robben Island.
Have you ever hiked up Table Mountain? Did you know that hikers can get a one-way ticket costing only R45 from the top to the bottom before 09h30? If you've ever hiked up and down the mountain then you'll know that up takes longer, but down is a far less pleasant hike - so I'd say R45 is a real bargain.
