Up, Up and Away

  Table Mountain is perhaps Cape Town’s most iconic landmark. It can be seen for miles around the peninsula. Nelson Mandela even commented that he and the other political prisoners would look at it from Robben island and considered it a “beacon of hope”. With a height of 1087 meters and age age believed to be over 600 million years (making it one of the oldest mountains on earth) it is an impressive sight. Some days clouds sit on top creating a “tablecloth effect” down the sides. Going to the top is an absolute Cape Town must do.

  There are always problems with must do’s. In this case there were two of them. Both involved the actual getting to the top. One method is to hike. There are a number of trails going up for the young and vigorous. Some of these trails are quite steep; involving some actual rock climbing, narrow paths around boulders and the occasional ladder to climb. Others have steps in some areas that seem to go up forever. The quickest is said to take about one  and a half to two hours of strenuous hiking over not very scenic terrain.

  The other way up is on a cable car; not bad if it is the San Francisco type- rails on a road. Alas this is not the case. The Table Mountain cable car is like a ski lift: a car suspended on a narrow cable taking the passengers to dizzying height while dangling in the air.

  While this may be a no brainer, it was quite the dilemma for me. A two hour hike for some could take me four or more hours. I didn't want to blow out my already bad knee so early in the trip. Balance has never been a strong suit for me (ok, I am Clumsy) and the trails were steep and narrow. On the other hand, hanging hundreds of feet in the air has caused more than one panic attack in my life.  All it takes is one really good gust of wind and we sail off the cable onto the rocks below.

  You may be thinking there is another option. Nope, not going up was not an option. I didn't come all this way to be an old woman and sit things out. With that thought in mind we bought our tickets for the cable car.

  Luckily we chose a beautiful, sunny, wind free day. After waiting until our assigned time,(and watching cars go up and down, much like the feeling in my stomach) we boarded our car. There were no seats so we stood by a window where I could hold onto a pole and bury my head in Johns shoulder.

  As we began our ascent I felt my hand slipping from the pole and the floor moving under my feet. Oh dear, the floor was rotating. While this allowed for beautiful panoramic 360 degree views for everyone it robbed me of my security pole.  Thankfully I had John to hang on to. As we travelled further and further up I was able to peek over occasionally, trying my best to look out and not down. Within a few minutes we had reached the top and my feet were once more on solid land.

  Was it worth it? A thousand times YES! the views were magnificent. Trails were available for all levels of hiking. They even had a place where you could (for an additional fee) hang off the side of the mountain with ropes. Needless to say we passed on that one. We especially enjoyed watching the Dassies, or rock hyrax play on the rocks. This rodent like animal is actually quite anatomically similar to an elephant.  

  Going back down provided the same two options but this time I felt much better about entering the cars. I even managed to give the evil eye to some misbehaving middle schoolers on a field trip. As we descended I was able to look out over the beautiful city and enjoy it from a different perspective. I guess FDR was right; all we have to fear is fear itself. And heights.