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Table Mountain,
Cape Town
Cape Town’s icon, Table Mountain, stands with her base firmly within
the Table Mountain National Park, 1 086 metres above Table Bay. The
imposing table top, more often than not draped in rich cloud that
seems never to quite tumble from its sides, is a national monument and
her shape has been adopted as a ubiquitous scribble for many a company
logo of those working within her shadow. |
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Photographs of Table Mountain Courtesy of and © South African Tourism |
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The mountain is sculpted
from sandstone and her summit measures nearly 3km from end to end.
Views from up here are remarkable and the panorama stretches from
Table Bay to False Bay around the mountain to Hout Bay and Kommetjie.
When skies are clear, one can see right across the Cape Flats to the
Hottentots Holland Mountains. No surprise then, that the cable way is
the most popular tourist destination in Cape Town or that well over 16
million people have visited her summit since its opening in 1929.
The cable way, which, weather permitting, allows one to reach the top
of Table Mountain in minutes, rivals some of the best in the world.
Recently upgraded in 1997, the new cars, or Rotairs, have revolving
floors that give passengers a 360-degree view over Cape Town and Table
Mountain as they ascend and descend.
There are about 350 paths to the summit that range from undemanding to
extremely difficult and a network of over 550 walks on Table Mountain.
The Hoerikwaggo Table Mountain Trail is a luxury 3-day, guided and
portered, fully catered hike launched in December 2005. It
incorporates some of Cape Town’s major attractions, such as the
District Six Museum, Table Mountain’s summit, two nights in the Table
Mountain National Park and Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
Nowhere else in the world does an area of such rich bio-diversity
exist almost entirely within one metropolitan area as the Table
Mountain National Park. It stretches from Signal Hill in the north to
Cape Point in the south and includes the seas and coastline of the
peninsula. Infact, Table Mountain National Park has more plant species
than the British Isles.
Table Mountain is covered with a wide variety of wild flowers and is
the natural home of the Silver Tree. She is floodlit during specific
times of the year, including Christmas and New Year, and her imposing
strength then looms over the city both night and day. |
