Table Mountain, Devil's Peak & Lion's Head welcome you to Cape Town!

It can't be mistaken that a visit to Cape Town is incomplete without standing on top of Table Mountain. It is like going to Paris and skipping the Eiffel Tower, traveling to New York without visiting the Statue of Liberty.

You can either take the cable car up (±150 rand/20 Euro for a return ticket) or explore one of the hiking trails that lead you up the mountain.

Quick Tips:

WHEN HIKING:

- Pack water, food, hat, sunscreen, warm clothes (the weather on the mountain can change like thát), phone, and emergency numbers (every year quite a number of people get trapped on the mountain). Remember what track you took, as this is crucial information for those looking for you. It is a big mountain, especially when you don't know where to look.

The most popular and least exiting track is Platteklip Gorge. But for the experienced hiker, take for instance, India Venster, Diagonal, or Kasteelpoort.

Don't start climbing too late. Actually, start early in the morning, especially during the summer months.
It will take you between 2 and 4 hours, depending on the trail you take, to reach the top.

NEW: HOERIKWAGGO TRAIL! This 2-day overnight trail is the first trail that gives you the opportunity to spend the night on Table Mountain.

Best Way To Get Around:

When you decide to hike up the mountain, get a map with the different routes. They are for instance for sale at the bottom cable car station and at the different tourist offices in town. Why a map? There are many different tracks and if you don't know your way around, you have a fair chance of getting lost.

 

To get to cable car station/foot of mountain: take a Rikki taxi, a mini-taxi, regular taxi, or a hired car, or walk up along Kloofnek Road.

Table Mountain rises up south of Cape Town and offers great hiking trails and stunning views over the city and its surroundings.

** SEA DRAGON
According to a legend, the mighty sea dragon Nganyamba tried to prevent Qamata, an African mythological figure responsible for the creation of the world, from creating dry land.
Djobela, a one-eyed earth goddess, assisted Nganyamba. She casted a spell that created four giants to guard the north, south, east, and west.
** WATCHER OF THE SOUTH
Many battles raged and eventually the giants were defeated. Before dying, the giants asked earth goddess Djobela to turn them into mountains to watch over the area. The Watcher of the South, Umlindi Wemingizimu, became Table Mountain.
** 50 MILLION YEARS
Scientists have another explanation. Hundreds of millions of years ago, when the Cape was part of the supercontinent geologists call Gondwana, the feature that is now Table Mountain was a flat, empty plain. As the vast landmass shifted and heaved, the plain slowly subsided under the sea.
For 50 million years, fine sediment built up, layer after layer. Then the earth's plates buckled again, and the layers of sediment were thrust upward to what are now Table Mountain, Devil's Peak, and Lion's Head.
** LIONS AND HIPPOS
The mountain nowadays is over 1,000m (highest peak = 1,087m). Once upon a time, the mountain range and surroundings used to be the home to a variety of wild animal species, from lions to hippos.
Unfortunately, they disappeared as man encroached on their habitat. Only the smaller ones remain on the mountain: the little grysbok, porcupines, tortoises, and hyrax or dassie, a creature that is the closest biological relative to the elephant.
** 1000 PLANT SPECIES
Table Mountain’s flora mountain is varied. Botanists estimate that more than 1,000 plant species are found here, ranging from Regal Protea to ground-hugging ferns.

Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain’s right shoulder, offers some great hiking and walking trails. You can walk along the contour path, or climb the summit. Personally, I love this mountain, especially when clouds are dripping over the peaks like thick, white cream. The question I have always asked myself is why this mountain had this particular name? After some research, I found the reason.

The mountain got its name from the legend of Van Hunks. Van Hunks was a Dutch pirate, who spent his days smoking his pipe where the saddle of land connects Devil's Peak to Table Mountain. One day, Van Hunks challenged the Devil, a great smoker himself, to a smoking contest. The prize of the contest was Van Hunks' soul. While puffing their pipes, so much smoke was generated that a "tablecloth" formed over the mountain. This is a regular feature on Table Mountain when the Cape southeaster blows.

In the end, Van Hunks lost the contest and the devil not only got his soul but also the honor of having the mountain they were sitting on named after him.

I love Cape Town. To me, it is the home I have never had: as a child, a teen, and even recently, I have moved a lot. I have lived in more than four different countries and have packed my stuff over 18 times. Despite the fact that I am Dutch, Holland was never my home as such. I guess that is what you get when you have lived outside your mother country until your 12th birthday.

I never thought I would find a place I could truly call 'home'. Until I set foot in Cape Town.

One of the best views of this incredible city is from Lion's Head, Table Mountain's left shoulder. The hike only takes 45 minutes, and the reward is absolutely grand.

One of the traditions in Cape Town is to hike up Lion's Head on full-moon days, just before the sun sets. Every month, many people gather on top of Lion’s Head to witness the sun slip into the Atlantic while the full moon comes up from behind Table Mountain.

I still don't have a clue where Lion's Head got its name from. In my opinion, and I have seen this mountain from all angles now, Lion's Head looks like everything except a lion. But many Capetonians claim it does look like a lion and blame my disbelief on my lack of imagination.

The first thing I did when I got to Cape Town in September 2004, was driving up Signal Hill. According to my friend, this was the best place to get a first overview of the city and surroundings. He was right.

From Signal Hill, which separates the suburbs of Green Point and Sea Point from the City Bowl, you have a splendid view over Table Mountain, the Twelve Apostles, Lion's Head, the city, the harbor and Table Bay, and Robben Island. As the sunsets from Signal Hill are awesome, this is a good place for a romantic rendezvous.

One can access Signal Hill via Kloofnek Road, which runs towards the mountain and the Cable Way station. Just keep a close eye out for signs on your right that say 'Signal Hill Road'. This is the same road you have to take when you want to climb up Lion's Head.

Signal Hill's name is derived from a very old Cape Tonian tradition, namely the Noon Gun, positioned just below its top. Every day at noon, a cannonshot is fired. The Noon Gun is accessible via the Bo-Kaap, Military Street.

Advice: Take earplugs!

Due to the elements – warm weather, strong and unpredictable winds and dry vegetation – Table Mountain falls victim to fires every year. Most time the fires are killed in a few hours, without causing too much harm and devastation to nature and people’s lives and home. In some occasions, unfortunately, fires do cause a lot of harm.

On January 26th 2006 for instance. A massive fire swept along the lower and higher slopes of Table Mountain, burning a large part of the face of South Africa’s most important landmark, and Lion’s head and threatening several suburbs.

Again, like many other previous fires, this one was probably caused by a cigarette bud.

As someone who desperately loves Table Mountain - as you have read in my other journals - and all the other nature reserve in the Western Cape province: please do not smoke when being in nature. The fynbos vegetation during summer is incredibly dry and the winds are strong and unpredictable. These are the perfect ingredients for a massive fire I witnessed yesterday. Literally one spark is enough cause a lot of damage.

When you are out camping in the bush, always make sure you extinguish your campfire completely. Never leave glass behind, because the reflection of the sun through the glass onto for instance dry grass causes concentrated heath and thus fire.

Yesterdays fire was a massive one: one person died, houses caught fire and even at this stage the smoldering remains are a genuine threat: In Cape Town a breeze can rapidly develop into a strong south easterly wind, feeding the almost extinguished fires.

Have a look at my pictures, and see for yourself how devastating fires can be.