PfG: Traversing Table Mountain

The first thing we saw as we came into port in Cape Town was Robben Island, most famous or infamous in modern history, for being the prison of Nelson Mandela for 18 years. He would look across Table Bay

and see Table Mountain in the distance as it towers over Cape Town. Partway up the mountain you can either ride a cable car to the top or make the zigzag hike. There's a photo showing the path for the latter later on in this post.

To the left of Table Mountain as you look at it from below is Devil's Mountain. There are all kinds of stories connecting the two mountains. One of many is that Table Mountain gets its name from the clouds that appear at times like a tablecloth, which was supposedly sent from the devil that lived atop Devil's Mountain.

From here we could see part of Serenade behind the central business district, or CBD as the downtown area is called.

Interesting to note here that everything below the purple line I drew that runs along Strand Street, used to be under water. Around 1935 Cape Town was getting more crowded, plus they needed a deeper harbor so it was decided to attempt one of the largest land reclamation projects of any city in the world at that time. The ongoing project was completed following World War 2. It was an amazing amount of land added, especially when you think that where you're driving used to be underwater as you're touring near the port area.

I'm not sure who voted but in 2011 Table Mountain was voted one of the official New 7 Wonders of Nature. It was a good choice! Here's a shot of the gondola or cable car as it was coming into the station. The floor of the car rotates in a 360 degree circle in the time it takes to get from bottom ot top or vice versa, which gives you a spectacular view as you travel.

At the top there is a bronze replica of the mountain. Look closely on the right photo to see the small cubes that represent the stations at both ends of the cable car route.

A closer view of Devil's Peak which stands at 3,281 feet, while Table Mountain rises to 3,563 feet. Neither are incredibly high peaks but as you look down from them it is quite a view.

I got one picture of Karl and I at the top before he disappeared ahead of me and I didn't see him again until it was time to go down. You can see I have my jacket on here, it was a little windy when we first got to the top but I soon shed it as the sun came out.

There are marvelous views of Table Bay from here,

as well as of Robben Island. The island has served many purposes over its history. Originally it was a Dutch settlement, named for the seals, or robbens, who populated much of it. It was only later on that it was designated it as a prison and a hospital for those deemed “socially unfit” or “socially undesirable”, as well as a military base

At one point in time this small reservoir was the sole source of water for the city. Cape Town is still a place that is dependent on the winter rains for most of their drinking water. Our guide, Daniel, told us drought can get really scary here. Their last big one was in 2019.

There were many of these Red Wing Starlings flying around at the top of the mountain.

There is a pathway, or trail, that loops the top of the mountain, a shorter version and a longer one. We took the latter. There are multiple types of vegetation here at the top. Remember that they were heading into winter at the time we were there so colors were dulled.

When we started taking photos "on the edge" it was just Mark, Brian and I. Jane and Shari do not like getting this close. I really wasn't that close, the guys got much closer than I did but not close enough they were unsafe.

Just a little fake falling!

The rock structure was really interesting to me. While it looks like granite, the top of the mountain is really sandstone. At some point it was pushed up from a sea floor, they sometimes find the shells up here to prove it. The lower part of the mountain is made of granite. We would see how that was delineated on our tour the next day as we drove around the cape.

One more living on the edge photo, mostly for the view of greater Cape Town behind me.

This ravine between Table Mountain and Devil's Mountain is where the trail come up from below. If you look closely on the right you can see its twists and turns. It takes a couple of hours to make the hike up, unless you are in a rush and want to do it in about 40 minutes. Daniel told us there was a group that tries to see how many times they can hike up then take the gondola down in a day. Sounds kinda crazy to me.

As I made my way around I eventually got a glimpse of these beautiful blue waters far below me.

A few of the different types of vegetation at the top,

as well as a struggling tree, and the colorful lichen on the rocks.

Some of the southern coastline.

Another bronze showed a view of Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. You can see Table Mountain there in the background. This point divides the waters of the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic.

Falling away behind me in this photo are multiple mountain peaks that are known as the 12 Apostles, although there may actually be 14 peaks or 10, depending on who's counting.

Bronze commemorating Table Mountain as a New World Wonder of Nature. Just so we both know, we've visited two more of these natural world wonders on this trip, Iguazu Falls and Jeju Island.

Off to the right of Table Mountain is Lion's Head. Daniel makes a good argument for it actually being just called Lion's Peak as it looks like a lion lying down from most angles. I took this shot of the mountain climber just for Ritchie to see if he'd be game for climbing this peak. He said yes.

Just so many glorious views from up here!

This little guy is called a Rock Hyrax and there were a few of them running around atop the mountain. They weren't very scared of humans. Crazy thing about these little guys is that their closest animal relatives are elephants and manatees!

Just Jane being a little crazy. She keeps me laughing!

I especially liked this plaque that was just outside the gondola, it quotes verse 24 from Psalm 104, "O Lord, how manifold are they works! In wisdom has Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches." So appropriate for this magnificent place.