Cape Town's, Table Mountain, South Africa (with Map & Photos)

Cape Town's Table Mountain

In Cape Town's, you can hear a legend: they say, the Creator, admiring his creation, touched the Earth, and a flat area was formed in this place. This is how Table Mountain arose - a place where the sun always shines during the day, and at night the stars are visible so that it seems that you can reach them with your hand.

Cape Town's Table Mountain 2
Cape Town's Table Mountain

Table Mountain is so called because it looks like a table: its top is not sharp, but flat. The mountain is surrounded by almost sheer cliffs - Devil's Peak and Lion's Head. She is huge, majestic and languidly wrapped in the clouds, like a queen in a fur coat. Sometimes clouds descend or rise in such a way that they turn into a “tablecloth” hanging “from the table”.

Cape Town's Table Mountain 3
Cape Town's Table Mountain

Center of power

Many consider Table Mountain one of the strongest energy centers of the planet - much steeper than the pyramids, because, unlike the ancient Egyptian burial grounds, the mountain is not made by hands.

Table Mountain has become, in fact, Cape Town's trademark and is even depicted on its official symbol - the flag.

Cape Town's Table Mountain 4
Cape Town's Table Mountain

Its height is 1087 meters, and the length of the flat top is 3 km. If you are an athlete hardened by morning jogging or a hiker, you can climb to the very top of the mountain on your own along the already paved paths. The road is difficult, but quite safe, without dark alleys and deserted people. The only inconvenience is very sharp stones, although some daredevils manage to walk barefoot altogether. On the way there are small waterfalls and beautiful colorful lizards. Hiking, depending on the level of your physical fitness, will take from 2 to 4 hours of time (this is 2.5 km of the way).

Cape Town's Table Mountain 5
Cape Town's Table Mountain

Get ready for the changeable weather in this area and it can rain out of the blue. Heavy downpours have already washed away the slopes of the mountain, and there are now large ravines. By the way, the deepest of them - the Gorge - is considered the shortest way to the top.

Cape Town's Table Mountain
Cape Town's Table Mountain

If the eight-hour sitting in the office did its dirty work and deprived the muscles of their former endurance, then at your service is the cable car (funicular), which was built back in 1929, and in 1997 it was updated and modernized. During the ascent or descent, the cabins rotate 360 ​​degrees, and a magical panorama opens up to the passengers. One way this pleasure costs 10 euros, the travel time is about 2 minutes, the feeling is like a normal elevator due to the verticality of the track. In addition, there is often a huge queue of tourists at the funicular.

Cape Town's Table Mountain 7
Cape Town's Table Mountain

Once on the top of the mountain, you will find yourself in the Table Mountain National Park, where unique orchids, a silver tree and almost two thousand more plants that cannot be found anywhere else in the world grow. For example, the feynbos (finbosh) shrubs are a special plant ecosystem, dense and fire-hazardous: a riot of fire on Table Mountain happens almost every year, since this is the only way feynbos can be renewed.

Cape Town's Table Mountain 8
Cape Town's Table Mountain

The Table Mountain offers a stunning view of Cape Town's and the ocean with cheerful whales frolicking in the waves: you look, admire the beauty of the landscape, and suddenly you realize that you are practically on the edge of the earth! After all, the African continent ends here, and only 4500 km of water surface separates you from Antarctica.

Cape Town's Table Mountain 9
Cape Town's Table Mountain

Reference

The opening hours of the reserve, the weather in the park and travel routes can be found on the official website.

Table Mountain Map