Table Mountain Travel Guide - part 1

by Travel Writer Sasha Arms

Every Capetonian talks about Table Mountain with a sense of pride. Seen from different aspects and angles across the city, it never fails to maintain its sense of majesty, while always appearing to live up to its role of watching over the Mother City. Nelson Mandela even said that Table Mountain was the “beacon of hope” to prisoners on Robben Island. Table Mountain attracts millions of visitors and whether they reach the top by hiking or via the cableway, it must not be missed on anyone's Cape Town itinerary.

Table Mountain was named by the first European person to arrive in Table Bay. The Portuguese navigator António de Saldanha climbed the mountain in 1503 and named it 'Montanha da Mesa' – Table Mountain. The distinguishing flat 'table' top of Table Mountain is about 3km long, topped and tailed by Lion's Head to the west and Devil's Peak to the east. Saldanha carved a cross into the rock at Lion's Head, which is still just about visible today.

With its ever constant presence in Cape Town and due to its legendary status, it's no surprise that Table Mountain attracts tourists in their hordes. That shouldn't put you off visiting however – the views from the top really demonstrate how Table Mountain lives up to its name.

The most common way up Table Mountain is via the cableway. The cable car station is on Tafelberg Road, which can be reached from Cape Town city centre by car, although it's also a stop on the Hop-on hop-off bus route. Impressively, the first cableway started operating in 1929. It underwent considerable improvement works and modernisation in the 1990s to create the cable cars passengers travel on today. The new circular cars can now hold up to 65 passengers, take just five minutes to complete a journey and rotate as they ascend and descend, giving passengers a completely panoramic view. As well as reducing the waiting time for the volumes of people who want to use the cable cars, the rotating cars also allow etiquette to be restored – there is much less commuter-style competition to commandeer the best spot inside the cable cars.

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Atop Table Mountain

The top of Table Mountain offers views of practically every aspect of the Cape, and each one of those views is utterly transfixing. You can look down over the city, Cape Peninsula, Plattekloof Gorge, Robben Island, the V&A Waterfront, Camps Bay, and many other revered spots of the Cape. A lot of tourists stay around the hub by the upper cableway station, which is also where the shop and café are. It's worth getting away from the crowds for a bit of peace, and to have your own piece of the Cape for a while.

The leaflet you get with your cableway ticket outlines three walking routes you can follow at the top. They are all described as 'very easy' as they all follow designated pathways – the paths are of course flat and there's little chance of getting lost. The walks take between 15 and 45 minutes and the crowds get sparser the further away from the cable station you get.

The top is clearly signposted too, so just meander along the paths if you don't feel like following a map. There are a number of factual signs to read about the history, views, flora and fauna of Table Mountain. You'll also see groups been taken around on organised tours – note that you'll have to organise this through a tour operator or your hotel in advance – they are often combined with day excursions visiting other sites in Cape Town too.

Flora and fauna on Table Mountain

Table Mountain's sandstone landscape feels and looks sparse, although is renowned for its unique flora and fauna. In particular, the mountain is known for its fynbos vegetation. For the most part, fynbos covers the rock in an unassuming, almost camouflaged manner, except for a few unexpected splashes of colour.

In terms of wildlife, dassies can be seen quite frequently at the summit. Guinea-pig-like dassies, or rock hyraxes, tend to be seen around the cableway's upper station where they are attracted by discarded food the tourists leave behind. You might also see baboons, various species of lizards and snakes.

Environmentally-friendly

A really impressive responsibility the Table Mountain National Park assumes is related to conserving the environment – not an easy task for a tourist attraction that's relatively inaccessible. The cable cars are used to help with this – they can be filled with water at the bottom so that it can be transported up with each cable car journey – and this water also helps keep the cable cars stable. The water is used for the café at the top, which also uses biocompostable plates and food containers.

Hiking Table Mountain

For the more adventurous travellers, there are several well-marked routes that hikers can take to reach the summit from the bottom of Table Mountain. It takes up to around three hours depending on fitness levels. Visitors who want to hike are strongly advised to go with a guide. Weather conditions can change quickly and knowledgeable, local guides can ensure their hikers are safe and well looked after. Guided hiking tours can be arranged through tour operators in central Cape Town.

It's important to point out that it's not just hikers who can get caught out by the weather. The cable cars will only run in calm weather and if it's too windy, the operators consider the cableway too unsafe to run. Additionally, visitors who do make it to the top of Table Mountain are reminded that the weather can change quickly. If a klaxon sounds while you're up there, it means that the weather is changing and the cableway is going to be closed shortly. In this instance, make your way back to the upper station to get a cable car down immediately. Some notices even say that you shouldn't get the cable car up if you're not prepared to walk back down. It would be quite an extreme situation for this to happen, but keep it in the back of your mind.

When clouds cover Table Mountain, Capetonians fondly refer to it as the 'table cloth', but it also means that visibility is not good enough for visitors to ascend the mountain. Sometimes Table Mountain's summit is inaccessible for days in a row if it's too windy – so make Table Mountain a priority when you arrive in Cape Town to ensure you make it up at all.

Sasha Arms is a freelance writer, editor and web communications strategist. She has travelled extensively, particularly across South Africa, Europe and the Americas and has contributed to a number of notable publications, including the Lonely Planet Bluelist. Read more about Sasha Arms

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