HIKING THE CAPE

Picture yourself taking the rotating Cable Car the top of Table Mountain.
You leave the Cable Station and follow the less-travelled path to the right. The view is every bit as breathtaking as you imagined, you are standing on top of the seventh wonder of the natural world, as it was voted in a global survey.

But as you look South you see that Cape Town is not just Table Mountain, it is a city of many mountains, following the Peninsula down to Cape Point and the South Western  tip of Africa. You will not immediately see but all of the mountains have trails, used by locals of all ages, shapes and sizes on a regular basis, most frequently at weekends, to access a world often not appreciated by the thousands of overseas visitors we welcome to our lovely city.

Feeling alone and a little frustrated after Covid I stumbled into a small ,newly formed hiking group. I would love tell you about some of our adventures and the members who are now such dear friends but that will be a chapter in my book. The important thing was the door to the world of astonishing views and natural beauty which opened for me.

The Cape at the end of Africa and its mountains is home to a floral kingdom, one of only six in the World and by far the most diverse. Brightly coloured flowers smaller than the head of a teaspoon share this world with bushes of flowering Proteas, including the magnificent crown- like King Protea, our national flower. The trails through this beautiful vegetation which we call fynbos may take you beside pools and rocky streams and usually will lead you to views of one or both of our two oceans, and other mountains inviting you to experience them.

Visitors the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, a vast park below the towering cliffs at the back of Table Mountain are often unaware of the trails leading out of the Park and high onto the contours of the Mountain. Our hiking group among others walk these trails and are often humbled into silence by the beauty which lies before us.

There are several options both for climbing (hiking) up Table Mountain. None are easy, but the sense of accomplishment is exceptional. Some, such as the slightly scary India Venster require the assistance of an experienced guide but others simply require reasonable fitness, good shoes and water (always water!). My particular favourite is from the Kirstenbosch side and has the exciting name of Skeleton Gorge.
So many trails, hard and soft. Why not ask your teller of tales to explain more and introduce you to the many possibilities and maybe he will even walk with you! 

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