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Published: March 14th 2015
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Table Mountain, our African Heritage
also bears the odd title of a new natural wonder. Hmmmm. This is it. Last day before we leave the country, and the weather is good so we are making a beeline for Table Mountain as soon as the rush hour ends. There is still some smoldering activity from the horrendous fires last week when houses burned down in the tinderbox conditions of the hillsides. No lives were lost though. The official website advisory says waiting time 5minutes for the cable car ride to the top of "Our African Wonder" as it's been dubbed. By the time we arrived cars were snaking around the roadway approaching the ticket area. The wait was more than 5 minutes but it wasn't unbearable. There was some consternation when we realized how much of a walk/climb it would be for Judy to get to the actual entrance of the cable car.But all was well. Like the rest of the tourist areas I'd seen, SAN Parks were well organized to provide wheelchair assistance and we were off. It's a steep rocky face rising to a height of approx 1700m. Beloved of crazy hikers, who rather walk to the top than take the cable car like us lazy bones is the footpath. Indeed there were two hikers trekking
upward. The inner chamber of the car revolves very slowly giving everyone a chance to see the 360* view. At the top there were the glorious views we'd been promised...... looking up the coast to the drive we had taken in our first day in the country, to the spectacular bays and beaches..... down to the impressive beaches of the city itself ..... down to the stadium built for 2010 World Cup. A group of schoolchildren arrived and invaded the lookout point just the same way that schoolchildren anywhere in the world would have done. Even here in the heart of Cape Town's biggest tourism attraction, I met two lovely African women from the township and had a chat with them. They were a mother and daughter - today was mother's birthday so she came with her daughter to this site she had first visited on her 60th birthday, and she had loved it so much she wanted her daughter to see it. We lingered a while at the mountain top then headed back.... my day would continue with Estelle driving me to new areas of the city. We visited Long Street which has a number of beautifully kept old
Cable ride up 1070 metres quiet and smoothe
Destination is the tiny projection on the right side of the table top buildings like ours on Charlotte St. But they prize theirs, we don't. It's not the best part of town but it's very interesting with art, music and of course souvenir shops because Long St is now a must do on the tourist itinerary. I searched again for the music of MADOSINI but couldn't find it. I understand that her record label has gone out of business. We drove quickly through adjacent BoKaap area, just a few streets, which was once the assigned residential zone for Cape Malays but now houses well built brightly painted buildings clinging to the Malay image. You can find that delicious Malay dish Boboetie but we didn't stop to eat. Driving along some more past the the Capetonian beaches, gorgeous large white sand expanses with bright blue sea too cold to swim in, so locals and tourists parade the beach promenade, lie in the sun under blue umbrellas and eat at the row of restaurants facing the sea. There's a nice relaxed-bustle in the air. All life, all housing, all commercial activity everywhere in the city is dominated by the encircling mountains. You cannot escape them. There is the single pointed peak of Signal Hill, there
are the 12 bumps of the Twelve Apostles, there is the reclining figure of Lion head, but above all there is Table Mountain. I didn't see the flowing mist effect of a table cloth being spread which has given the plateau it's name. But I saw mist envelop the mountain many times and felt the wind that whips around its face, making the cable car trip dangerous, so cancelled. So today I had been lucky. I checked off four outstanding items on my Bucket List .... Table Mountain, Long Street, BoKaap district and the Clifton beaches. Loved it! I thank Estelle for the drive and background info and I thank Alison for her ongoing efficient organization of my time throughout the month. Without the two of you my total experience would not have been so wide ranging and so unbelievable. XXXOOOXXX
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