Visiting Africa had been on my bucket list for many years, and when Janet and I visited in 2012, I wasn’t disappointed.
Something that I really wanted to experience was Table Mountain.
Table Mountain is the natural feature that dominates Cape Town… in fact, as Cape Town has grown, the city basically has surrounded this massive natural outcropping.
It is quite impressive when you have a human settlement that has grown up around such a notable geographic landmark. There are lots of trails that allow you to climb the mountain, but Janet and I took “The Table Mountain Ariel Cableway” to the top. While I’m sure the hike to 3,500 feet above sea level would have been invigorating, the views from the cableway were pretty amazing… and it gave us time to accomplish other tourist experiences.
The views from Table Mountain when you get to the top really were spectacular.
The area around Cape Town is full of great stuff to discover. There are beaches where we walked with South African penguins. It was a great chance to try out my new camera.
The Cape of Good Hope is the southernmost point of the Cape Peninsula, and Cape Point has a light house to mark the area for sailors. The area off the coast is known as “The Graveyard of Ships” as there are thought to be close to 300 sunken ships that wrecked here.
Along with the treacherous conditions that caused the wrecks, the waters are full of sharks. Clearly a dangerous place for sailors for centuries and not a good place to have your ship sink. We decided to stay put on land.
Most wine drinkers would be aware that the South African wine industry is becoming well known and respected, and we were able to visit the Meerendal Wine Estate outside of Cape Town.
This was a great place to spend some time, enjoy some amazing wine and food, and meet some great people.
Our trip to Africa was a once in a lifetime adventure. We saw amazing places and met amazing people. I’m enjoying setting up my blog because it’s helping me wade through the many photos we took and helping with recollections of such enjoyable experiences. It’s almost as good as being there… but not quite!
I thought I’d add this satellite image of Table Mountain (I was not in the satellite when it was taken) which shows how Cape Town has grown to surround the mountain.
Photo Credit: Planet Labs, Inc [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Table_Mountain_Cape_Town_South_Africa_19Mar2018_SkySat.jpg
Recent Comments