Cape Town holidays just aren’t complete without a visit to Table Mountain. The flat-topped sandstone mountain is synonymous throughout the world as a symbol of South Africa’s ‘Mother City’. To date, it is believed that over 18 million people have made the trip up the aerial cableway to the top of the mountain:
The largest point of the Table Mountain, Maclear’s Beacon, is located 1086 metres above the bay. Depending on the route you choose, climbing Table Mountain will take you anything from a three hour walk to a full day’s trek. Most people, however, choose to use the quicker aerial cableway, which allows them to reach the top in just under ten minutes. The cable cars have been built to cope with Cape Town’s strong south-easterly winds and the rotating floors ensure that all visitors are offered panoramic 360 degree views of the Mother City on the journey up. Once you reach the top, the views become even more spectacular and stretch from Table Bay to False Bay and around the mountain to the Hout Bay Valley and Kommetjie. On a clear day it is even possible to see across the ocean to the Cape Flats and the Hottentot’s Holland Mountains.
However, if you are taking your Cape Town holidays during the summer, you will usually see a thick white cloud engulfing the top of the mountain. The locals refer to this as the ‘tablecloth’, and tell the story of an eighteenth century Dutch pirate known as Van Hunks. After his life of crime had left him successfully rich, he took to climbing Devil’s Peak on a daily basis to relax and enjoy the view. His pleasure was further increased by smoking a pipe, and the pirate was particularly proud of the amount of smoke he could inhale without getting ill. One day a cloaked stranger challenged him to a smoking duel, and although Van Hunks won, the cloaked stranger turned out to be the devil and both of them soon vanished into a thick puff of smoke. Every year the two are forced to resume their smoking duel and the smoke becomes the tablecloth that lines Table Mountain.
Table Mountain has a unique eco-system and, on your Cape Town holidays, you will spot much unique flora and fauna. The mountain has over 1470 different species of plants, with 250 different types of daisies alone. Some plants such as the Silver Tree and the Disa Unaflora orchid are endemic to the area, and the ghost frog is an example of a reptile that is also found nowhere else on earth. An animal that you will see a lot of on your trek up Table Mountain is the rock dassie, which resembles a large earless rabbit, but whose closest living relative is actually the elephant.
At the top of Table Mountain is a shop where you can buy many different souvenirs of your Cape Town holidays, from cuddly dassies to scenic calendars and diaries. The shop also contains a post office, which you can use to send postcards bearing the famous Table Mountain postmark. As there are certain areas of the National Park that are designated for a ‘braai’ (the South African term for BBQ), you can even end your Cape Town holiday with a sunset barbecue overlooking the Atlantic. However, you might not want to create too much smoke, as you never know who may appear and challenge you to a smoke duel.
Rachel Hill is a specialist consultant with Southern Africa Travel, a company offering Cape Town holidays, as well as holidays to other destinations in Southern Africa. Our experienced consultants will help you design your very own luxury holiday, and will be happy to provide you with a free quote.
