We took to the roads and headed for Cape Town in beautiful South Africa for my FIRST ever hike!! It was around June/July time last year. This has been something I have always wanted to do since visiting this country, and that was to hike up the marvellous Table Mountain. Table Mountain stands at 1, 085m, and is a flat top mountain, looking much like a table! Fun fact: when there's cloud cover it looks as if it has a table cloth over the top!
There are various hiking trails and they vary in difficulty, we chose Platteklip Gorge-the easiest route, though don't let that fool you if you're a beginner lol, it's still hard work but isn't that bad really ;) There is an option to take the cable way if you want to save time, and effort ;) haha! (On my first ever visit to South Africa that's how I got to the top, but I knew then I would love to someday hike it). However, the cable way can close if the wind becomes too strong, so, if you are planning a hike, just keep that information in mind.
The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park which is 221 km squared and was proclaimed on the 29th May 1998 for the purpose of protecting the natural environment and the rare fynbos vegetation. The park contains two well-known landmarks: Table Mountain, for which the park is named, and; The Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern extremity of Africa.
The most southern tip of Africa is situated at Cape Agulhas which is about 2 hours and 45 minutes car journey from Cape Town to give you some idea of where it is. This is where the two oceans meet (Indian and Atlantic). I've not visited yet, and it's about 1 hour, 50 minutes from where I am so it's on the to-do list! However I have been to The Cape of Good Hope and visited Cape Point, it is stunning, the views are eye candy!
There is also a funicular railway located at the bottom of the car park that takes you from the bottom station up an incline through dense fynbos to the upper light house where you can look out over the sea. Amazing!
Ok, I'm derailing, pardon the pun! ;)
Back to Table Mountain! I had never gone on a hike before so I had no idea what I was in for, and to be honest, I didn't even use the hiking stick correctly (is that the correct terminology..? Lol) This is going well hey! I think I did well considering, I definitely found it more of a task on the way down because I was obviously tired from the hike up. It was just a few weeks after that I decided to hike Lions Head (a mountain that stands alongside Table Mountain) - post coming soon! I can definitely say I enjoyed it, and the views just make it an absolute dream!
It took on average about 4 hours to get to the top and 6 hours to get down! whose idea was this again! Yep, I stand by what I said, it was just as much (if not more) strenuous coming down - tired legs! Plus, I of course kept stopping to take snaps of the scenery which probably added on some time! Still, practice makes perfect right? gulp!
It was such a beautiful day despite the cloudy weather, this meant that when up in the mountain the views were compromised due to cloud cover, but still, it was amazing being amongst the clouds, almost surreal, and quite mystical!
Some more pictures from the hike:
A short clip showing the top of the mountain (standing on the edge!)
Aaaand we're down!! (hours later, but hey, I made it!!)
It was time to head home, and I can honestly say it was probably one of the best nights sleep I've ever had! I would love to do it again, and with the added challenge of beating my hike time! But for now, I leave you with this short clip of the hike...
Until next time!
