Table Mountain.....Finally

So the clouds parted, the table cloth was removed, and Table Mountain was ours to hike.  Table Mountain is one of the oldest mountains on earth, six times older than the Himalayas and five times older than the Rockies. It's story begins eight hundred million years ago when sandstone began to form underwater.  It is an Icon for Cape Town, and essentially the development of the City occurred around this landmass.  It is flat topped (thus the table reference), often shadowed in cloud or high wind, therefore making the ascent, difficult if not impossible at times.  It has been 4 days of us watching and waiting for a break in the cloud - although the beaches may be cloud-free, the top of Table has had a steady mass of cloud formation. When we awoke today, we knew this would be the day to conquer the top!

Of course with our group, we had to divide and conquer - so John, Anna and Sam took the spinning gondola up, while Liisa, Ben and David hiked.  The new "Rotair" cars carry 65 passengers (increased from 25 on the old cars), and run on a double cable, making them much more stable in high wind, and giving a faster journey of 4-5 minutes to the summit. The floors of the cars rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving passengers a panoramic view.  

The remaining, hiked Platteklip Gorge, 650 m verticle, 1.2 km up to the top, in a serious of natural steps and rock formations. 

All appeared to be progressing well (with a 9 and10 year old charging up the front), except the beating afternoon African sun was relentless upon us.

 Half way up the mountain, Ben and David finally called mercy and asked for some water- I reached into my backpack to find that I had forgotten to pack the water.  Extra clothes, first aid kits, emergency blankets, were all in the pack - completely useless in the heat of the midday sun, but NO WATER.  My first response was, lets head back down - but the boys were set on moving up.  We continued until the last 15 minutes (of an fast 1.5 hour hike up), when finally we ran into a group that had extra water.  Luckily they graciously gave us 2 L - and we ascended without trouble. 

Top of Mtn Looking to Cape Town Harbour

Behind, near the waterfront, the Cape Town FIFA 2010 World Cup soccer stadium (one of several across SA) is visible - an impressive building, and the site of a few struggles to come in June and July, during the World Cup.  In the distant background (above Ben's head) is Robben Island, the "triumph of the human spirit", where Mandela, Mbeke, and many other political prisoners were incarcerated.  It was referred to as The University during the apartheid years.

Table Mtn Looking to Cape of Good Hope

At the top, we met up with the rest of the family and toured the table, taking in the 360 vistas. Oceans (Indian and Atlantic) surrounding us, and a series of beautiful mountain ranges rolled along the coastlines.  We learnt that at the Cape of Good Hope, the Benguela current from the Antarctic, mingles with the warm Angulas current from the Indian Ocean to create a special marine species diversity, unique to Southern Africa.  We also encountered our first sighting of the Dassie, a small marmot-like animal, which is common at the top.  The kids entertained themselves by observing and tracking these critters, spotting all their hiding areas under crevasses and counting their numbers.

We spent the day in the mountains, and returned to sunny and warm skies in Camp Bay, where we proceeded to swim in our pool and enjoy the late afternoon sun.

 It has been a wonderful and relaxing Camps Bay, Cape Town week - and tomorrow we are off to venture East and explore the Garden Route Wine Region for a few days.