Trip Report:
Two Weeks in South Africa, January 1999
Richard's Version
Day 5
Tuesday, 1/12-
Slept in a bit and slept off dinner. Didn't make it downstairs until 10am. We tried to catch the 10:15 shuttle, but there wasn't one. There was, however, an unscheduled bus to the Waterfront (even better). At the V&A we browsed the Tourist Info center, then caught a shuttle up to the Table Mountain cable car.
Table Mountain is a 1000m tall sandstone butte, with nearly vertical sides. The cable car runs from the foot to the top (to a deco concrete building that looks like a big wart from below). A stiff 60 Rand return ticket (there are also singles in either direction for the fit or foolish) got us up the mountain in about 5 minutes. The cablecar was originally built in 1928 (?), but the new system (Swiss) is just a couple of years old. This 'Rotair' system has a saucer shaped car that rotates once during the trip up, so everybody gets every view.
Before even leaving the building at the top we were stunned by the incredible view. We had chosen a crystal clear day, and the city, beaches and hills were all spread out way below us. 1000m may not seem like that much of a mountain, but put it practically on top of a city and it is really something! The top of the mountain is practically flat. To protect the delicate vegetation there are a series of paved and lighted paths (imagine the stars at night!), and then marked trails further from the station.
We followed the rim trail counterclockwise, looking down at the ocean and beaches. Then I was stopped in my tracks when a rock popped its head up at me- a Rock Hyrax (Dassie)!! As I looked around I saw (and photographed) dozens of the cute fuzzy things!! As Alison walked onto a boardwalk I noticed two sleeping under the edge, and one popped out and wandered right up to us - the cheeky thing! 
We hiked around for an hour or two and then went to the bistro in the cable car building for a very nice cold buffet (55 Rands) and bathroom break. Then more hiking and picture taking. We saw lizards, lots of birds, and a million sunburned Germans. At about 3:30 we were hot and tired so we took the cable car down. On the way I saw someone free-climbing the sheer face of the mountain. Yipes!
At the bottom we started waiting for the V&A shuttle, but we were lured into a minibus taxi by the 10 Rand fare, direct to our hotel. We were the first in, and could have waited a long time since they don't leave until full, but a big group of Irish teens and a chaperone filled it right away. The 'conductor' climbed in on the floor and we took off, careening through curvy traffic-filled streets at about 100 km/h. The teens were screaming, their chaperone blanching, me bracing Alison against the G forces. The first stop (literally!) was the waterfront where the Irish piled out and their chaperone kissed the ground with relief. We were next, but the trip was less exciting on the freeway- fewer curves!
Either the mountain or the ride exhausted us, and we fell asleep instantly. We woke up at 8pm feeling silly and thinking about going out for dinner. We flipped on the news though and changed our minds. The previous Friday during Tony Blair's visit to Cape Town there had been a protest march, and the police opened up with rubber bullets. A PAGAD (People against Gangsterism and Drugs- a muslim vigilante group) member had been hit in the head. He died this morning and his funeral was beginning about the time we arrived home. There had been threats that if he died the city streets would run with blood, and that evening Cape Town was run ragged with bomb threats, but luckily no actual violence. We decided not to go out though. The Holiday Inn only has a couple overpriced items on their room service menu, and won't do take out from their restaurant, so we had cookies for dinner and went back to bed.
Day: 1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 -
14 -
15 -
Notes/Resources
Back to Richard's Home Page
Last Updated 19 February, 1999
Send Comments to: rlindstrom@earthlink.net