Table Mountain

Where: Cape Town, South Africa

When: December 9, 2012 / December 15, 2012

With: Dave, Divya, Rahul

Cape Town is a really unique place because unlike most cities, it's skyline is marked not by a building, but by a giant mountain that looks like its top has been hacked off. This is Table Mountain. 

Most days, it's rare to see that flat top because of that giant cloud that sits on top of it. That is appropriately referred to as the table cloth. It's there most days, comes rolling out of nowhere from the southeast, and then disappears as it cascades down the north side of the mountain like the smoke from a pile of dry ice.

There are two ways to the top: hiking or cable car. Most opt for cable car. The only problem is that it only runs on days when the wind isn't howling, which are few in the early summer months. The tricky part though is that the wind is what keeps the cloud from covering the top. So to venture to the top is a challenge, trying to balance between enough wind for it to be clear enough for the view, but not too windy for the cable car to actually run. In our few weeks there, we had a lot of drives past the park entrance looking for this sign:

We lucked out on two separate days and were able to head up. The cable car was nice because its floor actually spins, so on your way up, you get a 360 degree view of the journey. Brought to you by Visa. In one photo I took on the way up, you can see the teeny tiny trail that you can climb to the top...if you felt insane enough for that. 

Once at the top, you are greeted by this lovely sign. I still question what a hooter is exactly.

The top is just as rocky as the sides, but as to be expected, completely flat, with winding trails throughout the whole park. Trails are also occasionally frequented by African ladies in traditional woven garb of some sort?

At the top, we saw that it is also possible to rock climb to the top and then rappel back down, though we didn't take advantage of this activity. 

The views from the top are spectacular, and can change drastically even within 30 minutes of being up there. The clouds roll in quickly and suddenly, and then your view is gone and you're drenched in cloud mist.

Both times, we headed up because there was no table cloth. And both times, the table cloth slowly started creeping over while we were up there. It was like an evil spirit trickling over the edges of the mountain top, and was so cool to watch roll in. I was mildly obsessed.

Simply terrifying when the cloud starts rolling quickly in your direction. It felt like an evil beast was going to swallow you whole.

At one point, there were so many clouds below us, it felt like we were standing on a snowy plain.

Either way, being up here feels like you're on top of the world. The views are so pretty, and it's so quiet, with nothing but the wind whooshing past your ears.  You can sit up there for hours, just watching the world below. A must-do for Cape Town, just be prepared to battle wind and clouds, so keep your schedule flexible when you go!

For the rest of our trip in South Africa, click here.