Table Mountain

My first day in Cape Town.  I found a nice hotel on the touristy Long Street aptly called Long Street Hotel. The kind manager helped me plan my few days I would have in Cape Town.

Since it was a beautiful day, I decided it was best to head up to Table Mountain National Park.  

Table Mountain is approximately 260-million years old. By comparison, the Andes are about 250-million years old, the Rockies are about 60-million, the Himalayas are 40-million and the Alps are 32-million years old. 

The highest point of Table Mountain is 1085m (3559ft), marked by Maclear’s Beacon. A large stone cairn – built by Sir Thomas Maclear in 1844 – marks the exact spot.

Panoramic view from the cable station.

There are actually two cable cars, which counterbalance each other – as one goes up, the other comes down. They cannot operate independently of each other.

Walking path up the mountain.

South Africa boasts the third-highest level of biodiversity in the world, and is the only country to contain an entire floral kingdom. The Cape Floral Kingdom is one of the country’s eight World Heritage sites.

View of the city as I ascend the mountain in the cable car.

Man, I hate heights!

The Cape has the highest known concentration of plant species – 1 300 per 10 000km squared.

Lion's Head

 Although it resembles a small rabbit, and is sometimes called a rock rabbit, the dassie (rock hyrax) is actually most closely related to the elephant. Their evolutionary relationship is based on similarities in their feet and teeth. 
Dassies’ soles are kept moist by special glands. They are able to climb smooth cliffs using their feet as suction pads.

The indigenous inhabitants of the Cape, the Khoekhoe (pronounced and popularly referred to as Khoikhoi), called Table Mountain Hoerikwaggo, meaning “sea mountain”.

Table Mountain’s cloudy “tablecloth” is the stuff of legends: one tells of the San Mantis god smothering a blaze on the slope with a huge white karos (animal pelt). Another says the cloud comes from a smoking contest between the Devil and a local pirate called Van Hunks.

At the end of my morning on Table Mountain, I took the Hop on Hop Off bus around town.  I stopped at the lovely Camp's Bay for lunch and a nice massage.

The breeze was wonderfully cool on the beach in contrast to the hot sun.

The trees grew in this bent position from the constant wind.

These trees actually bend towards the water from the wind reflecting off the buildings.

The Castle of Good Hope is a star fort that was built by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679, the Castle is the oldest existing colonial building in South Africa.

My day was finally over.  I headed in to my hotel room for a good sleep.  I had a 5am wake up call ahead of me for some shark diving!